Respect
Lifetime friendships torn to shreds
Making people's lives not only difficult but beyond comprehension
The day by day simple joys vanish
The meglomaniac doesn't know any better
We do
That is the difference
It is 2025 not 1940

Like two lips,
pursed together,
but in a smile.

The petals are smooth -
coloured in silky shades
of red or pink
or perhaps a
vibrant cerise.

He buys me these flowers
every anniversary
to remind me

of his deep
and enduring love.

I left my name on a stone by the river,
but the water was not kind.
It carried me to the mouths of strangers,
who spoke of love like a passing storm.

I was a shadow on the wall of a house
that forgot my laughter.
I was a bird in a sky
that did not know my wings.

If I return, will the olive trees know me?
Will the earth remember
the weight of my footsteps,
or will I be just another story
the wind refuses to hold?

Gleeful parasites intent on obliteration
feed on the stillness.
Starlight can't warm the damp grass.
If only he had cosied up once
for one last chance
to embrace.