Author: ace mars lest july

they say you have to visit
sinatra’s house

i took your uncle aside
i asked him to get me a viewing
at batman’s open house

i settled for his star

i was harsh
upon our first meeting
you cut your hair
so i didn’t recognize you
i started off blaming you
the pictures i had seen
with your long hair
you were on a cliff
overlooking a body of water
the sun shone through your hair
it was a perfectly captured moment
of angelic beauty
but now it was trimmed
off to the side more
whatever was captured
was lost on the salon floor
i bit my tongue
when i saw tears
running down your face
by that point
you had turned to leave
i grabbed your arm
only for you to turn
and slap me
hard against my face
four months later
i dared to call and apologize
when i came over
your hair had grown out
but whatever once was there
had left, and would never come back
I turned around
headed homeward
as you threw your mothers vase
at the sidewalk in anger

screaming expletives, as I escaped

when Gert died
i cried
there are still tears
on the page
to this day
my heart sank
as Chase hit the water
and she died
in his arms
runaway
runaway

know that in the end
you lose for reasons
that you had no control

when you speak boldly
remember to iterate
what importance is, to you

as the other voices chime
try to speak louder
in matter, not volume

on your first injury
bandage only your will
it will continue to fail

dignity will be worthless
in the long game, also
upon your divergence

if only a point, of jest
unbeknownst to amateurs
they fail soon after too

but that, is for the end

it’s odd
fear
i see it sometimes
in reflections
of my eyes, stricken
of light and colour
to see nothing else
but of this imposing
force
taking over, yet
it doesn’t strike
first
it acts as a blade
dealing an enormous blow,
that knocks you to your
feet
instilling its adage
in the back of your mind
you leave unstable
somehow, still alive
and as time elapses
the wound never heals
the blade has left you
to be bled, reminding you
of its presence always
following
you, till you overcome it
or worse,
you succumb to it
i see it sometimes
in my eyes i see its
haunting reflections
confront me
fear
how odd