A mantra of the shiftless souls
The weak and will less
Gutless wretches of world
With quivering quaking shaking legs
The brittle bones of those who cannot stand
Shout retreat at break or loss of their command
Their eyes scream run
When wisdom bids they fight for what they can
But their bridges they have burned,
Roads blocked and rivers ******
They flee from what they feel they cannot fix
And hide with weak and sordid tricks
From things they do not understand

Poised for desperate violence
They stutter uttering lies
Attempting to disguise
The fear within their minds
As they make their alibis
For those who question why?

Fear,
Is their master and their king
Fear for them, the driving thing
And they have given in

You cannot save them

They are lost so let them run
From the hot and burning sun
Let them make it for the hills
For the dark cold comfort of their caves
Where in time they  learn
Courage for their soul to save
Or die in anguish
Never learning to be brave

I do not love you
It's true
I do not love you
The curve of your hips
And the lay of your *******
The way that you kiss
How you look while you rest
Whatever it is
I can surely attest
That while you are nice
You are not the best
For me
Subjectively
I do not love you
And I am sorry

I am sorry
Because you deserve to be loved
You are kind
And you deserve kindness
You are beautiful
But not to me
Not in the way that sets my heart afire
You are beautiful
In a way that does not set my soul to dancing
You are beautiful
In a way a painting can be
And yet not capture the soul
I do not love you
And
I am sorry
Because
You are beautiful and you deserve to be loved
But
I do not love you

You are beautiful on the inside
You have an intelligent mind
Mysterious and sublime
I like your mind
But
I do not love you
Not as you deserve
I cannot make you truly happy
Because
I do not love you
And
I am sorry
But
I do not love you

Please forgive me for not loving you

Note: the subjects of this poem and the previously published poem are not the same, they are different romantic interests

I love you
Despite

I love you
Regardless

I love you

I thought I hated you

But I found that I could not hate you
I can only forgive you and love you

But I will never act on it again
I will love you from wherever I am
To wherever you are
In the most quiet
Unattestable way
No one will ever know,
And, I will never tell

But I love you
Despite

I ask nothing from you

You are who I love
That is enough
For me to love you
But I will not act on it

That is my selfish consolation to loving you

An unexceptional relationship
Is one with few words,
Where few thoughts converge
Nothing is given or taken or got
Not much was sold, stolen or bought
Some few true smiles, But zero harsh words
What can you say when not much is said
The texts that we sent meant little when read
The heights weren't too high and the lows were too low
To make up for the way that it goes
So I think that I'll leave
And I think that you know
It's ourselves we deceive
With this sham of a show
And I truly believe
We're better off on our own

So, Good bye,
And have a beautiful life.
I hope things go well
My new never wife

Beer like this forgets itself in the bottle
Strength unseen becomes a lie
A bitter and malty goodbye
The suds and silk are sly
And wander while they slide
Down throats that know no why

So drink to the end of questions
Upend the cup that brings confessions
A pessimist sees perfection
In the bottom of his empty glass

Drunk in a glass
Drunk in a thought
One all consuming moment
I am lost in thinking
And lost in unthinking seeing
Autonomic functions compunction
Maintains the living construction
But my mind is gone in it all
I am sight and sound and thoughts unheard
Chasing a feeling that's bent on concealing
Hidden behind the layers of things
I am energy transforming,
Matter conforming
To god knows what
I am a corpse out of time
I am drunk and still drinking
Thoughts in my glass and beer in my mind
Though I look I cannot find
My keys

Thank God

Bartender! one more, and call a cab for me

Newborn babies always look like wise beleaguered old men
Aghast at coming back into the same world
Their souls abdicated on the last go
Squinting at the visions of their new lives
Wondering, has anything changed for the better since I left?

Then the *** is placed into their hungry mouths and they forget