Reconciliation

His brief passing
Left a residue,
Adhesive as water droplets
Whose surface tensions release,
Allowing them to trickle
Over a solid, smooth surface.

But I am overwhelmed
By its emotive trigger,
Absorbed by my very constitution.
Out pours its consequence:
Sweat I can't blot,
Stinging my eyes,
Salting my lips,
No matter how often
My hands smear it across my face.

Plans for change
To clot his effect
Seem so futile
When my breath stinks of beer
And cigarettes.
How easily I fathomed Lady Rebirth
Only one day before.

She stares me down the following morning—
A whispered rebuke—
Though it summons blood to my cheeks
And steals my breath
As though I were struck.

She leaves me to swallow my failure alone
And feel its festering pains
In my abdomen.
I take to pen and paper,
A reminder to honor her
When faced with temptation.

And suddenly,
The burden unwittingly lifted
By its record.