Your silhouette wakes
With a face down scream into my pillow,
And begs the reasons I exist.

She speaks!
This frozen specter to my mind,
And leaves like a midnight tryst.

I uncover
(Under all the rustic leaves)
The branches just to cover the ground.

And I awake,
Inside these empty hallways
To give you, though I haven't found.

Do you trust?
Or do I care to say
The latest of my can't-lose schemes?

From "I want,"
Until the truth sets in,
My eyes aren't quite what they seem.

Not so lifeless -
(Though their mouth would ne'er tell)
The realities of smelling your hair -

They entrap,
Inside this lover's careless cage,
The truth that, "all is fair."

"Take each one,
Because you're just so scared, my son,
And wantonly ill-equipped

To walk away,
In lieu of making her stay,
So lie - to promises unkempt."

10/31/2000

Author's Note: The beginning of the end?

Posted on 06/17/2005
Copyright © 2026 Daniel Peterson