It was many and many a year ago,
  In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
  By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
  Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
  In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
  I and my ANNABEL LEE;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
  Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
  In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
  My beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
  And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
  In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
  Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
  In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
  Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
  Of those who were older than we—
  Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in heaven above,
  Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
  In her sepulchre there by the sea—
  In her tomb by the side of the sea.

as much as i feel
wiser
stronger
more independent
i am suctioned into
digressing
repeating
forgetting
and walking right back in
to this nightmare of a culture.

i wonder if you tell
your piano
the things you used to
tell me.

it doesn't take much for the people here
to part like the red sea
or collapse like paper dolls.

whenever i try to forget you
it feels like a mouse is gently
gnawing off my limbs.

this brain feels useless
without you in it.

you walk to the bridge,
biting the skin on your fingers,
tremulous hands,
long brown hair whisking in the wind.

the way you walk,
is filled with determination;
emotionless to the core,
stride after stride,
no thoughts in where you're going
for there is no turning back.

the time is now,
no reason to back out.
you've made it this far;
all that is left
is to cease the deed.

place your bag on the floor,
step up on the railing,
cold wind blowing around,
spread your wings far and wide;
and get ready to fly.

no more cares in the world,
the wind picks up speed,
hair whipping your face;
nothing matters this day
for there is only one way.

no jumping involved,
you let gravity do it all
you are flying now,
but unlike a bird;
for birds don't usually go down.