Alcatraz

April 2022

I have a love I have to hide

because it does not belong

it’s 20 years too late

but I play it over and over

like it’s my favorite song

I write for me

you are just a bystander

but I teeter on the brink

of running out of words

I keep trying to find

the way to say it right

Your brilliant light

drips from your eyes

You don’t see what I see

You’ll never believe me

Your all consuming

pools of crystal blue

I remember swimming in them

and all the passion that would ensue

I remember how I always felt

like you were keeping something from me

You had a secret you couldn’t tell

and you labored under the weight

constantly

I was an open book

you were Alcatraz

I resented the difference

You just kept making me mad

You still believe

there is strength in secrecy

I struggle to see

why you would keep anything from me

How we deal with love

says so much about us

You choose to ignore and repress

I choose to write it all down

I make songs out of my unrest

Your brilliant light

drips from your eyes

You don’t see what I see

You’ll never believe me

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think this is an awfully good metaphor...the prison, we are kept in when the one we love locks away secrets from us.
a brilliant light that shines vacantly...the truth stays in the shadows.
the speaker might thrive on the unrest and the creativity that ensues from it.
j.