the final parentheses

your promises, broken by betrayal
or death’s untimely visit
are a recipe for emotional set-back
bubbling in the pressure cooker
of your forsaken love
with a pinch of absence, mesmerizing what I needed
a bay leaf of forgotten desire
and bland spices with meanings I could have loved…
these simple tasteless ingredients
were denied me when you escaped my life
departing silently one night decades ago
(I’ve lost count of how many disappointments
you gift-wrapped with bright ribbons)
only to repeat the stealth one last time
punctuating the end of our life
with yet another set of parentheses
surrounding your ultimate voyage
destination, once more unknown


the final parentheses
[2008.29.3…a]

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