Responses to a Friend 2025.05.02

The beast stirs again
At this perceived slight
That this kind, gentle other
May not be seen
That what they have to give
May not be seen

How can it not be seen?!

What a travesty.

Distant clouds roll closer
Something begins to smolder
Perhaps the smoke rising is only a guess
Rather than prophecy
Something begins to quietly simmer
Not for the first time
But with renewed vigour 

In the surrogate hurt
For a heart… spurned? Forsaken?
A tiny rage — 

No —

A tiny sorrow?

I wish this drought would end 

~

An idea, a wish, for a new chapter
That never gets written
Time is lost, love goes unanswered
And unanswered love
Burns through you
All the way into the ground

Or

You write a new chapter together
Perhaps sooner, perhaps later
But there’s already enough characters
So many, and they can’t be everywhere
The main characters find their happy ending
In distant lands
With too much from the past
To carry it all with them 

In my weakness all I can see in each
Is a promise of loss

This is the way of everything
A gain in one place is a loss in another
Energy is only ever transferred
But however logical
This does nothing to ease the fear

In this guilt, a few drops stain the ground 

I wonder if the drought is finally nearing an end
And rain will soon fall again