Attending stiffly to the funeral
Of a soul long disappeared.
A soul, whose memory hovered
Like a hungry humming bird.

It quivered apprehensively,
Beating its wings with lightening speed,
The blossom it leeched from so ravenously
Until there was nothing left to take.

A soul that knew it mattered most,
Yet didn’t hesitate,
To place permanent weight on a loved one’s shoulders
Without backward glance or second chance.

The empty shell where that soul lay
Stands forever at the ready,
Waiting for the second chance
That he would never give.   

Though all know it’s a lost cause,
This hollow being wants nothing more
Than to make a certain girl’s heart flutter
Like eyelashes in the waking hours.

His efforts are for nothing,
For all of that is done.  
His fervent hope brings nothing
But a bitter realization.


Lay a white rose across the grave
Of this dead, departed soul.
What position did this it occupy
In the depths of others’ minds?

A friend forever faithful?
A broken-hearted love?
A son never appreciated?
A lonely, starving soul?

This angel’s rose, so pure and clear
Will erase what shouldn’t be,
It will erase a ruined past
And end this selfish shame.  

A symbol of surrender,
Lay it down, admit defeat,
And utter that forbidden phrase:
“You are truly dead to me.”

The whisper hangs in the air
Like a thickening, blinding fog,
And with the world it devours
A feeling bittersweet.

It has to be like this, I fear.
Instead of setting feelings free,
They become engulfed by darkness
Before nerve can be worked up.

For no one wants to act
When they are quite unsure,
And because of human cowardice,
We are doomed to the same fate.