These safety hazards of a gilded heart
naturally unravel due to the constant strain
of everyday abuse.
Our solemn right of self-determination
and this endless pursuit for happiness
fails to stem the flood of memories evoked
by a solitary image from our past.
Raw emotion is a dish best served frozen.
This is how we age,
hunched over and eviscerated.
I see your picture,
your toothy smile,
the crows have perched on your eyelids,
stomped all over your face.
This is how we age,
leathery and grinning for survival.
I see your picture,
your celestial squint,
stretch the sagging muscles over cracked
and crusted makeup,
over tired and faded freckles,
this is how we age, like tensed clowns.
If I were truly wise,
I would never leave my shackled repose,
I would brick over the archways
and topple over the burning braziers,
insulate myself with all consuming fire.
I would destroy all the flickering monitors
that allow two-way access to my soul.
If I were truly wise,
I would reach for the offered vial,
inhale the comforting aroma
of bitter almonds, like Socrates.
naturally unravel due to the constant strain
of everyday abuse.
Our solemn right of self-determination
and this endless pursuit for happiness
fails to stem the flood of memories evoked
by a solitary image from our past.
Raw emotion is a dish best served frozen.
This is how we age,
hunched over and eviscerated.
I see your picture,
your toothy smile,
the crows have perched on your eyelids,
stomped all over your face.
This is how we age,
leathery and grinning for survival.
I see your picture,
your celestial squint,
stretch the sagging muscles over cracked
and crusted makeup,
over tired and faded freckles,
this is how we age, like tensed clowns.
If I were truly wise,
I would never leave my shackled repose,
I would brick over the archways
and topple over the burning braziers,
insulate myself with all consuming fire.
I would destroy all the flickering monitors
that allow two-way access to my soul.
If I were truly wise,
I would reach for the offered vial,
inhale the comforting aroma
of bitter almonds, like Socrates.