Poem – Page 82 – A (wise) man of two faces

Paid time off

The azure skyline
stretches out like an ocean
of sweet, sweet freedom.

Departing the crumbing tower,
the wanderer walks into the wilderness
and finds peace as a lover unbroken
beneath ten heavy stars.

I asked to see you.
So you stood before me and
opened up your chest.

I tried so hard but
I lost count of all the scars
crisscrossing your heart.

You stood and puzzled
why I whispered, “Beautiful…”.
You didn’t get it.

For all of your pain,
you gave me your honesty
with flattering ease.

The way she filled that dress
was a subtle, sweet caress
and she danced and she moved
like she had nothing to prove.

Some people carry
quiet, desperate passion
aching for release.

The crystal clear skies
bear down on me again –
tighter than a web of lies,
heavier than all my sin.

Yesterday I threw out the brown sugar
she had bought to make a new dish
which I had to fight to choke down.

I check my cell phone regularly
and with increasing frequency
and watch the time just slip away,
wondering what you have to say.

Eventually this dread disease
of wondering what to say to please
saps my strength with its fell fever
yet I cannot bring myself to leave her.

Now every single unsaid word
carries silence like a sword
and a noose of pitch-black rope
woven from my shattered hope.

But by the time his phone was ringing
his body had long-since stopped swinging.

I feel the water
pressing down like a lead sea
that flows ‘neath clear skies.

Below is the second version of Thursday’s poem. Please let me know which one you preferred.