by David M. Alper
as the fire casts shadows
hushed sweetness
of a relentless creation as it is
a fiendish romance
this crying
going through the motions
judging the writer's dreadful implications
you ask how it is
lost in the savage imaginings
unaccountably
I've inherited the sadness of love
weeks after
I've pondered your omens
in savage chains
who of us was unprepared for a stubborn pretense
and who was drifting through space
as a little carelessness sneaks in
nothing happens
we talk of the same craziness
you and I
and you
you're trying to figure things out
the business of what's possible
a foul indifference
as we brush up on sadness
true enough
in broken places
I am an easy target
as the bubble bursts
things are rougher every day
David M. Alper is a high school AP English teacher in New York City, residing in Manhattan. His work has appeared in Oxford Magazine, OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters, Sheila-Na-Gig online, and elsewhere.