A Love Story in Stanzas

A Poem

Photo by Adryan RA on Unsplash

perhaps it was too soon
to write a letter so misguided
that you had to tear apart the pages
just to let the words blur in scraps
of what should never have been said,
all those secrets too searing to let smolder

never did I think you’d say the words —
such taboo, such deceit, oh my —
because they were not your type
and confessions never suited you,
your heart hidden in a tomb
you’d guarded since birth

your mother thought you a doll,
so handsome and so small to behold,
yet as you grew she kept you close,
jealous of what you might unleash
beyond her sight or grasp or claim —
oh, you never knew any other love

your father was a ghost of a kind —
and even when you earned his notice
he still disregarded you every time
until you wilted beneath his gaze
as if you had things to hide
that he might never forgive