You lied, again, and
Somehow swearing you
Didn’t remember putting
Your lips to his, real sin
Now I’m the one torn
Do I stay in this room
Knowing full well you
May never be true
Do I say goodbye
Accept that I’ll never
Love you again and
Surely end alone
Some days you do everything right
Yet you can’t get traction
Whether it’s a lease for a house
Or a friend in a hospital
You just struggle to keep afloat
And hope you’re doing enough
When the reigns seem
To be just out of reach
And you wonder if
There’s any way to make it work
Or if it’ll be real at all
An old man reclines on a couch
Overlooking lake surrounded by
Mountains of trees, typing the last
Of a series of stories that somehow
Got published, read, and loved
A greyed dog curled up at his hips
A wife’s kiss fresh on his lips
Can we get there on this trip
Nothing is impossible with enough imagination.
Tell me you love me and I’ll believe
Ask those four words to show it
And my dear, you’ll always know it
We run hard when we can
Through fields of broken
Dreams, pasts and years
Towards a future we fear
I feel like I just fifty pounds on my shoulders
She said, a cigarette in her trembling hand
I brought her in my arms with a gentle tug
You’re never ready when a parent wants to die
We spent an entire car ride
Talking about things we’d
Rather live through again
Than watch Dark Phoenix
The street lights rolled over
Your bare feet on the dash
And I kept thinking that this
Is better than I could ask for