Return to Sender

Speaking in tongues when it came to

speaking my truth,

lacked any coherent translation.

Each word, fumbled and flushed away

in a frivolous game of

think-and-don't-say...

***

Your entire life, a merry-go-round

of reckless fun and games...

You trampled over anything sporting

a sense of praise, and devoured

attention like the

famished ego you were.

But I said nothing...

I kept the words as a

consolation prize,

thinking deaf ears

are the epitome of wasting time...

I never told you the narcotics

you spent wasting the day

was your only God...

I never told you about

my hatred for the

separation of powers

that evolved...

I never once told you that

I feared the worst, that

self-annihilator was your

middle name.

I'm telling you now...

All those unemployed words

and the ones already

late for delivery

are my parting gift.

Enjoy wearing them

around your neck as a reminder

of how self-conduct

ruined a future...

***

Opportunities not taken

are like dead wishes,

lingering hopelessly in a

stagnant mind brimming

with regret...

My good intent was always present,

but the thought didn’t count

since the postage was never paid...

Was I afraid of bruising your ego?

Or did I lack skills to properly care?

None of that matters anymore...

I'm left with this to ponder:

Maybe

if I had moved my lips sooner,

you would have seen

how much you meant to me,

and chose life with me over that next,

love-altering fix...