This Haunting

Sketches of a heart

in permanent ink

on thick elegant cardstock.

Tracings of a body

in lighthanded pencil

on cheap notebook paper.

Reimagining malicious apathy

into heartfelt friendship,

and forced pleasantries

into sincere compassion.

Delusions were born as a result,

if only to erase

the inescapable pain

of the deadliest game

she would ever play.

Chasing the passion

she found in books

and watched on the screen

led to this haunting.

His paper was crumbled

and burned in a fire

as if it were evidence

of something sinister.

But her cardstock was saved

in a locked box she couldn't find,

until the conversation of clarity

was eventually denied.

In the wake of tears

over wasted years,

she realized this was a blessing.

She had been set free.

So in the treacherous aftermath

of what she now knows,

she is left with one question:

Can you forget this haunting?