He waits in the barrel of a loaded gun
A smug black bullet with a necrotic head
Life concealing unknowable triggers
A withdraw of affection, a careless word,
An inscrutable expression any
Of these unintentional crimes
Could precipitate release
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He hides his bonewhite semblance
In the chalk outlines beneath steel towers
Indelible lines that reconstruct landscapes
And render familiar streets impassably dark
=
He dwells inside candy-coated pills,
That kill with overindulgence
Deleterious, these self-prescribed antidotes
Numb with excess, breeding
Exponential cravings and the decay of reason
=
He drips sulfurous inside glass syringe,
Vein deep, he perforates with addiction
Flesh worn nails, staining red
Relentless the hollow ache of obsession
Strips away moral sympathy and
The body submits to vilification
To hands, brazen with lecherous intent
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He creeps into the wreckage of young lives
Revealing his carnivorous secret
On stark white stationary, in letters
Dripping with fingerpaint sentiments
Heavy black emotions marginalized
And minimized by preconceived lines
=
Unheard and unheeded, these alarms
The shrill cries of a deflating heart
Surrender to charred white fingers
That snuff out any residual hope
Of reconciliation.
The final recursive blow
Shattering our post-apocalyptic hearts
If only we’d known translates into
If only we’d admitted to ourselves sooner
mindlovemisery 