remords posthume
adapted from Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
Published in
Jul 31, 2024
like all things, this love too must end
immortalized in an obsidian bier
all the comforts of hearth and table
just as forgotten as this oubliette of goodbye
will your arms reach for me
only to halt when fingertips graze satined pine?
will the absence of my heartbeat
fill the space where breath no longer comes?
the tomb is a tome of unread poems,
psalms and sonnets and secret incantations
that would reveal all the truth of this insomnia
you once asked me if the dead grieve,
and now when you could answer, you’re gone,
knowing not how it eats at me like worms.
Monica Deck is an author, researcher, recurve archer, and MFA (motherforkin’ artist?) candidate. She lives in the American Midwest with her family and feline menagerie.
