"Transference"

"Transference"

Obsessed with so many faces..

Those who shine brightest
give me the alternate reality.
I can brandish a promising imagination.

Even if to you
I pose
sight unseen
You think you're just one of many
And I take the focus off me

and put it on someone I've never met
Who takes up permanent residence
in a penthouse in my head.

I have something to offer.
You've never met me
But I still think
you're my raison d'etre.

Not to feel
not to believe
Nor know me...

Yet there still only need be one you.

Too much of me
Was all it took
so only one misstep
Lead to subsequent catastrophes.

Standing in the shadows is a shame
But too much time spent afraid
Castes a maudlin refrain

I've no wonder
No valor

Maybe the light
Could have shined longer;
You and all the others
could have regaled me for
what is so profitable
In your vanity and fame.