A Haunting

You who once called my name sweetly,               

You whose name I regretfully cannot repeat,    

whose face is like a foggy mirror,

why do you travel here?

How do you break free from the

shackles I command you wear?

 

You speak sweetly to the guards of my dreams;   

you bribe them with promises

and kisses.                           

Why do you haunt me as only spirits can?

You are a dark, beautiful creature-

the world’s greatest predator.

 

Now you are the guard                   

and I am imprisoned in my own castle.      

Still, my dreams speak of you sweetly,

so sweetly.                              

But you, you do not speak sweetly anymore.

Oh my dear friend, my foe,

whatever ingredients love uses, you spoke words so sweetly.

 

But that day, your words suffocated and strangled me with vicious vines.

They were not sweet.

Nothing in love’s garden-

not the roses or the orchids.

And you with your thorny words pierced the essence of my soul, just as they do now.

Why do you travel back here?

 

How I loved you once,

maybe twice,                                                 

too much to hold you down,                                    

to imprison you as I try. 

       

The past lives here.                       

It rises and thrives.                                               

That is why you haunt me.