decades after the ceremony
truth washed the plaque of fantasy
from my romanced brain

espoused
I read the lies
using romance-colored fantasy

fantasy clings and numbs
becomes a barbed *****
in a gorilla war

something dies

only to emerge
from the cocoon of barbed fantasy
with under-developed wings

flightless
vulnerable as a butterfly
awaiting her wings to strengthen

something lives


c. 2025 Roberta Compton Rainwater