the gravesite on center road

by a.m.d.

 

the face I never gave you

will lie in every shadow and cloud

that you will never fear or fawn.

the clouds’ shapes remain nameless.

your shapelessness is permanent,

your namelessness is by design.

it was not supposed to be this way.

it was not supposed to be at all,

yet, it was.

yet, you were.

I cannot origami my way

out of this past tense.

time, they say, give it time.

I cannot let myself forget.

you will not die twice

as long as I'm alive.

the sunset pulsates in

my rearview mirror,

licks of fire engulfing

everything I robbed from you.

your nothingness has become my own;

an emptiness, a parasitic void

that makes shadow play

out of my sin.

this nothingness,

this emptiness;

who knew it could be so heavy?

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am so sorry.

but sorrow doesn’t quite fit

into the shoes made for guilt.

 

 

back to University & College Poetry Prizes