Vapid beasts with gnashing teeth are leaving bleeding and loving seasons,
hold your anger in, dial down your self-worth beatings,
now, no not ever is the time for petty reasons.

A coward, me, capable of nothing short of cowering in corners,
wetting myself and my whistle,
borrowing hands to cover mouths and their wicked whispers.

A prize, they say, at the end of life’s road,
“be good so you can pass through Heaven’s gate,” we’re told.

But there’s a here. A now. A broken road that needs paving,
I’m a sucker, a sap, a love story who’s final pages need saving.

A guilt cloaked in laughter as a drug to numb the pain,
“Here’s another joke, another laugh” - a distraction tied to my name.

Monsters have migrated towards the center of me, my heart,
pause awareness, crash through well wishes as a renewed start.

Tuck and tug, form me in the shape that your mind sees fit,
I’ll wait for you, a fraction of the time that it takes love to finally quit.

A humming lullaby, quiet storms existing and advancing,
your pleasure is to pursue, dancing around direct questions that I’m asking,
a sophisticated sneer is hidden behind the wall of a smile that you are masking.