• For nights, for days, for love I prayed;
    And years, they slipped so lithely by.
    Tears and fears, they lessened duly –
    So why, still, do I sit and cry?

    Darkened skin and withered brow,
    Silent secrets; chapped from stone.
    Hacked and flecked, they mar. But
    Cannot sully flesh nor bone.

    Powdered face and tarnished nails,
    Empty words, so primped and prime;
    Hushed denial which leaks and pours -
    Tight-lipped soul of lies sublime.

    Sallow smile and twisted hair,
    Pride and greed; thy guilty be.
    The sobs: they ripped, soiled and scarred.

    You look, it’s clear, but cannot see.