The Truth About Forever

2024 Poetry Project — #13

Photo by Nikhil kumar on Unsplash

the monster in the labyrinth
has its jaws around my neck —
and you know it, don’t you,
even though you watch from afar?

you’re laughing at me,
i know it,
as i stumble in games
that have no end in sight.

maybe i’m a siphon, it’s true —
but i thought you’d understand
even as you looked at me
with eyes that didn’t gleam.

he’ll hate me, he’ll hate me —
these words fluttered through my head
as i backed away again and again,
over and over till the end of time.

i didn’t want to believe in you,
i didn’t want to hold fast to you —
but you were my one dying hope
when everything else was such torture.

and i was one of many to them,
them all really —
and i liked you more anyway
even though you didn’t say a word.