Elegy to My Love

A painting                                                                

subject to interpretation                                           

The unicorn and the lion.                                         

But the mystical horn                                               

turned lethal                                                             

no eternal bliss after all—

Somewhere along the way, 

my love 

the kiss became the scream. 

 

You wander in darkness, 

hiding festering wounds. 

My forgotten Icarus, 

burned by your own expectations. 

Yet I cherished each scar 

my love 

Raised brush strokes 

of battles fought. 

Your true image— 

more to love, not less. 

 

My memories a cacophony 

of past and present sounds. 

Clanging cymbals 

in our children’s hands 

but you have no ear for it 

my love

lurking in the background, 

our lives falsely painted 

in your mind. 

 

If you were dead, 

my love 

and I your widow, 

I could close the casket,

bring flowers to your grave, 

pray to you in heaven 

on a starry night. 

For this, I feel such shame. 

In the mirror a reflection: 

Mona Lisa dripping 

with twisted emotion. 

 

All color drained 

from the world

my love

when you flew

too close to the sun.