I’m always dining

At a half-empty table

Waiting for someone.

There’s always two sides

Every story has secrets

Be willing to talk.

Give only half a heart.

Spare yourself the pain.

For if you give it all, like me,

You clearly can’t be sane.

So save yourself the trouble,

Of feeling close and tears,

Just ease on, by the edge,

While together all the years.

For what’s the use in being true,

It’s simpler to just move on.

Loyalty’s old-fashioned,

Decency’s dead and gone.

So next time you have a chance,

Hold back, don’t waste your life.

As long as you get what you want,

You know where to put that knife.

Said you weren’t ready,

Here you are with someone else.

Yet, I’m not surprised.

I did not understand

Yet, I know why you left me here

Though I could never do the same.

I feel like I want to scream,

But my knowledge restrains me

While the words sear my throat.

The thoughts beat against my mind

As they echo out of tune

Once aligned, now discordant.

The pictures, once facedown

Now fade to ash.

Willfully self-destructive.

A waste of paper

Of talent, color and time

Of verse, rhythm and rhyme.

Yet all of these symbols

Suffer in silence

Just because I get it.

I know what you mean…

It’s okay, I understand.

Where exists the line

Between growing together

And falling apart?

When do you let go

Or hold on tight for dear life?

This I want to know.

There is time enough

For one or both, simply choose,

To keep, or to lose.

I’d hate to regret

A moment lost in pursuit

Of a path short lived.

So just tell me this,

Am I fighting now for you

Or struggling against?

We were once good friends,

Yet time has robbed our senses;

Distance dulled our hearts.

I looked up at you

As your eyes flashed a soft smile

I choked at “hello.”

Days begin to melt

Into weeks that drip away

The months of my life.

Forgiving oneself

Is sometimes a greater trial

Than mountains of earth.