Anguish

(Don’t smile.
Don’t wink.
Don’t reach out your hand.
I will not take it.
It was mine once,
Long ago, before.
I was yours once.
I still…)

Best not think,
Just lay here, still
Upon the dirty sheet.
Can’t wash away what
He left.
Nothing but a faint
Stench.

Gorge upon caffine,
Nicotine and morphine.
They numb…
blind…
Close out the…
Light?

(Is it night or day?)

Sweep up the laundry,
Piles of clothes that
Were his.
Discarded. Abandoned.
Hold them as the tears fall.
You are just like
Them.

(I think…I know…
Certainty is fleeting now.
Where did I put my lighter?)

Be strong, like Sampson,
Clasp your fate in your
Pale, weakened hands.
Destroy what he
Left.

Aeneas.
Anthony.
Him.
Dido.
Cleopatra.
You.