Summer left a long time ago

while you were drowning

on spoonfuls of absinthe-laced sugar cubes.

And it took with it everything

you ever cherished,

turned it into cinders and rust.

Your mind is its own hell,

a havoc that keeps screaming

in a bleak, eternal silence.

Flickers of star-light dare not shine upon you

for they know of your dark heart

and the way you like to pretend they are not there.

Dark eyes search dark skies,

forgetting of a once wild youth

that cast explosives to a place you once adored.

Eruptions still echo in your ears.

You remember, remember it well,

the way it lit up the whole world.

So now you shun the light,

the sun, the moon and the stars.

No more happy thoughts for you to fly away.

You still remember

how Neverland burned.

They way it turned to ash.

Now no matter how hard you try

you see

infernos blazing in your brain.

Alone,

wrapped in gossamer wings

you plucked off angelic things.

A sliver of silver

in the palm of your hand,

a thimble filled with doubt.

Night shivers to the touch,

a whisper of some fleeing words

you will never catch again.

© Christine Bottas. All rights reserved 2015-2016.