A Different Lullaby
I sat before you, humble, in tears.
I begged you to release my fears,
but you stood as still as stone—
and now you’ve withered, collapsed
on the steps of your own elusiveness.
Come, come, my time is near,
I hear you say.
But your eyes don’t see me,
your heart has gone astray.
That’s what you get for my lost years.
Hear me, hear me, I watch you say,
I hereby announce my love is for sale—
to the highest bidder, the winner.
Look around you, I say, look and see:
only flies and roaches can hear.
They say your tears were mixed with rain,
circling the streets, going everywhere.
Instead of you, I see the ghost of a man
who wasn’t true to himself, or his word.
That’s what you get for cowardice, I hear.
When you came back, I wasn’t here.
Even when you were gone, I was sincere.
The tale ends with you and I,
together, singing a lullaby—
the story of you and me.
We were never meant to be.