The Closed Off Box of Nothing

Where grief lies in wait,
There is a holding of the breath,
A stagnation in the air.
There is a door that will not open,
Part of the walls that hold it in -
A closed off box of nothing,
From which nothing escapes.

Takotsubo

The trap is closed now,
The octopus caught,
Gutted and tenderized -
A pretty sounding word,
A stick,
Beating the pulp out of you,
Nonetheless.

Fill the pan with salted water -
The kind you rub in
To old wounds -
And bathe your grief
And it heats up fast.

Remove the senses,
Take out the eyes
Pry that beak off
And rip it apart.
Make the cut,
Make it quick,
Make it deep,
Make it stick.

Now prepare your table
And gather your food,
Put it together for
The one who'll come.
A meal for two,
You hope she'll love,
A meal for two,
But she doesn't show.
So tossed in the freezer
Like yesterday's leftovers,
You lie in wait
And die in silence,
Wondering if she came but left,
If she wanted to, but changed her mind,
If she ever wanted to at all...

Hope wilts away
In the morning's glare
With the spoils of your heart
In her upturned fist
The heart she'd once
Loved and valued and kissed -
Lies now, paralyzed:
A fragment of a future
Broken asunder,
A frozen reminder,
Of a formalized lack of union.

Smouldering and All Burnt Out

The fire burns dim
Inside my soul
Nothingness, is a cloud
Of ash and smoke...
Emptiness is like that.
I've lost my love
And all will to live
Or eke out survival,
That's all it is now.
The embers glow hot,
Reminiscent of lost potential.
Smoke pours out;
Acrid, pungent,
Inducing teary eyes.
I lie -
They were wet enough already.
I see the world
Through a veil of water
And the shapes blur
Into each other -
Confused emotions,
Drives and destinies.
How entwined are we
That I should feel this way?
But then,
How entwined could we be,
If you hide yourself away?

Secrets Don't Die

When I love you now,
I'll love you in secret,
In hidden verse
And treasured rhyme.
I'll hold it in
And keep it quiet
So you can't know
How much I pine -
For you, and me
And us as one
For all we had,
All that's gone.
Maybe some day
You'll realize,
As you look at me
And in my eyes
(If you so choose,
For choose you must,
Someday, before
We turn to dust),
That love though silent
Ne'er went away
Though you did,
Along your way.