May 23, 2011

Tit For Tat - Stephanie Johnson

you have driven me to distraction –
to divining words in plastic cups
full of truths i am too young to taste
and lies i am too old to swallow.

collecting words like badges of
honor, a celebration of battles i
have not won – these are songs for
heroes, darling; i simply soldier on.

(you assure me that i shine; that i stand out
in this ocean of gray, blank faces lost
amidst a sea of all the things they're
not allowed to say –

you promise me i glow; faint but there –
my edges are ragged, scraped dry by a
thousand dreamer's songs. (your smile
is like rainwater on my tongue.)

(i am faint with the effort of trying
to forget your name – your laughter is
broken, it's true, but our stories are
the same.)

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