A paradox, 

Locked in a box 

Pandora come my way.

As I ascend the steps 

We will part our separate ways. 

As I remove my glasses 

Every fragment bends the same, 

If I stay like this 

I won’t have to confront a single face.

 

This must be the place,

I’ve had my doubts,

Nothing has changed.

These leaves that haunted me 

All lay tattered, stomped dead. 

All these faces that grieved me,

Today they seem sunny instead.

Maybe I should stick around,

Distance makes the heart grow fonder, 

Why not save myself from ponder

And sleep in hell’s fire a little longer.

 

So many faces have gravitated here,

Ones of hope, most with fear.

For a while yours was trapped here, 

I’m glad to see it free.

It beams too bright to be shackled with me.

 

Oh but how they will miss me!

The mind-forged maniac

Galavanting around,

Hissing tunes,

Exchanging frowns. 

They’ll speak of me,

On hushed nights like these.

How the girl with red flames had a face so long,

That it traced a line around the world

As she drudged the streets with forlorn.

They’ll write folk songs about my eyes,

How their colored drained with each escaping tear.

They’ll miss my static fear.

They’re gonna miss it all, dear.

 

Lay me down to rest one last time,

Don’t bother closing the window,

The agony of the street will rock me to sleep.

It’s always most grim before the storm,

But with the calm, panic claims so much more. 

The uncertainty of the future eclipsed by the past,

You whisper goodbye in sweet breaths,

The word a test to see if I’ll let you leave.

I’m sorry I cannot make you stay 

I’m stuck to my bed 

Justified by doctor’s orders.

Don’t say it’s all in my head.

 

As you go through the door

You watch me instead,

Total disappoint smeared on your head.

You turn to leave but it isn’t over.

Your body may be gone,

Never to be seen again.

But the door where you exit 

Stays propped open, 

Leaving this goodbye without an end.

 

Rose colored cheeks hint there’s no chance at amends,

Nobody looks sweet until the very end.