short sad poems

Change Course

Awakening from the nightmare,
Historic opportunity to
Boldly demarcate the
Difference between
Right and wrong –
Truth and mendacity –
Reality versus fiction.
Rectify callous denigrating,
Pillaging, looting, subjugating.
Inestimable moment
Squandered in the name of
Equivalence, civility.
Abject lack of courage,
Worsening suffering,
Inability to change course.

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Lesson

I told her my worth,
Through my actions,
What I would
Settle for,
Such was my desperation.
She gleefully accepted,
Repeatedly indulging in
My diminished sense of
Self — the overtly needy
Kindness of someone
Not yet confident.
A lesson lost on me
Until I was ready.

Dinner Party

I never knew how much I loved you
Until I saw you with someone else at that
Dinner party. Exchanging superficial
Pleasantries with the social climber to
My left, forced laughs, feigned interest,
A burning focus on your glowing visage.
Meet my eyes, acknowledge I mean
Something, that I wasn’t just some whim,
A forgettable dalliance until the right one
Came along and swept me from your
Consciousness, kicking an unwanted
Pebble from a manicured path.

Lack

A complete lack of empathy.
A wall that has no end,
Too high to climb over,
Obscures the landscape,
Separates people who
Might have been friends,
Prevents understanding,
Love, humanity.

Same Thing

It didn’t dawn on me that
Maybe you had a different
Perspective than mine so
I forged ahead with what I
Thought was best and turned
Out to be the worst thing
Possible for someone who
Was hurting and needed
Comfort rather than fixing.
I’ll think twice next time and
Do the same thing again.

Shared Second

A lucid dream in a school
Where I didn’t want to be, with
People I didn’t want to know,
Studying at the last minute for a
Test I was unprepared to take,
Trying desperately to enjoy a
Shared second with you.

Tried to talk but kept getting
Interrupted by unwelcome classmates,
Teachers, interlopers unaware,
Visitors arriving unsolicited, another
Instant of closeness interrupted.
A comedy of errors and heightened
Frustration. Perish the moment.

Lie to Me

Lie to me,
I’m ready to accept what
You say as true.
See in me the weaknesses
You can exploit for your
Own advancement.

Lie to me,
I’m willing to suspend my
Disbelief because I never had
It in the first place and I’m
Not ready to deal with
The pain.

I Thought So Much of Myself

I thought so much of myself
I married someone who would
Annihilate anything in his path if
He didn’t get his way.

I thought so much of myself
I stood by someone who beat
His chest and belittled others
If they didn’t bow low enough.

I thought so much of myself
I remained complacent and
Mute as plans were put
In motion to mutilate more.

I thought so much of myself
I looked the other way.
I couldn’t go back once
I made the choice.

Never Would Say

She never would say why
She dated the men who didn’t
Treat her well. One could surmise
That things hadn’t been at all
Stable.

She never would say why
She dated the other guys, the ones who
Called and behaved irregularly and
Insolently insisted on having their
Freedom.

She never would say why
She did not date the next person.
The one who treated her wonderfully.
One might gather that it wasn’t
For her.