Vitrioholic

Arguing over lines crossed and drawn
like who’s right to bare arms
don’t want to be seated
at your over-analyzing tea party

eye candy turns sour in mouth
spitting out
expired jawbreaker

oh how I missed your old-fashioned
cynicism
your conspiratorial debut
but I had to sell that broken record
for something I’d rather listen to
more than once

I light this incense in remembrance
of that which I aim to forget
your poisoned offering is fading from my altar
face down & scathing

your truth is a bad tab on my tongue
a trip from which I’m dying to return home
seconds shed like rattlesnake skin

seeping through my dreams
like walks through high school halls
where I thought I’d built walls

why did you taint my goodwill offering
your scaled fingerprints are in the ashes
a holy water riptide, a reptile in white cloaks

 

© Copyright Steve Shultz. All rights reserved.

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