May 16, 2020
Leaving You
I replay our life
over and over again
like an old movie reel —
black and white flashes
of a damaged marriage
And the flap flap flap
as the movie ends
I cannot stay
when your “I love you”
is followed by “but” —
Your conditions shred
my fragile heart, scatter
me across arid sands
You begged me
not to change you
to let you be —
While you devised plans
to mold me
shape me into your ideal
I cannot be wife and whore
saintly mother and sinner
friend and confidant
defiled by your perversions —
keeping your secrets
destroys me
No happy endings here
only a farce —
I take away this baggage
and depart
©2020 Lori Carlson
If you enjoyed this poem, please consider this:
Lori Carlson is a poet of mostly dark and/or confessional poetry. She also writes Haiku, Senryu and Tanka. Lori writes micro-fiction, drabbles, flash fiction, short fiction, and novellas in the SciFi, mystery, and horror genres. She received her B.A. in English and MALS at Hollins University in Roanoke Virginia. Ravyne Hawke is Lori’s online persona — the dark soul, blackened heart, and melancholic muse. Lori resides in NE Oklahoma with her husband, two temperamental cats (Izzy & Shugs) and a Husky named Max.
