You say you’d cry,                
If my eyes went dark
Say your world will die
If death makes its mark—

On me, your child, I swear,
To watch you from above– wiping your tears
The cause for my fate— you would not bare
I apologize for endorsing your fears


Don’t worry, don’t cry
It’s not time to say goodbye
I promise to try
But please, don’t rely—

On an Oath, so hollow
So easy to break
But still I beg you, do not follow—
For joining me will not heal your ache

Frying egg
light
Yellow
White
One egg
Gradually
To hot heat
Fried:
Their own party.

I wish I was a poet
But I'm just another person who learned that putting the letters of the alphabet together, forms words.

I don't care if
you logically
understand
my poetry

I just want you
to feel it.
you're
doing that,
you're
doing it right

lover in the grass
looking up at the tree
wonders what it means
for them to be free

Sky.
I love that name.
She giggles bubbles
from her breast,
she's a toe slug,
a kitty named Dog.

I wanna go on a trip with you,
sell plants by the highway.
carry mischief,
Kerry Feather.
golden flower,
golden head hair.

loose pants,
silky rayon.
She lies on
her stomach,
we're a
blanket picnic.

you wrote all these songs
and letters and plays and
all the words galore

you put your heart
and your soul into
these wishful thoughts

you put all your time and your effort into
a really roundabout way to tell me that
"i love you"

It is with bonecrushing sadness
that i report the
     Loss.
The Life destroying
dangle on the
     rope
God provided.

Almost is a hateful
word.
Almost is the
rip on the
     Stick
of Hope.

What now do you want to
     Know?
The War served by the
     Friends of Allah
Praise to His name.

The escape to the West
     failed.
The Earthquake finished
    Our completeness
from happening.

Your Dream became
your

Ticket to Hell

And mine to the
Unmade bed
     empty of Time
and Pleasure

To the Days of our
     Lives
Never to be

Led.


Caroline Shank
April 23, 2025

you’re busy playing wordle in a ******* bathroom
you’re talking to your future self inside a vacuum
you only know their songs from one of the guitar hero games
but you’ll wear the t-shirt all the same