Do Not Cry for Me

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There is no me, not anymore.

Emptiness cries out from scorched bones.

There is no place to set the stone that bears my name.

A disembodied voice drifts over moors & rivers,

searching for what might have been.

 

Desperation / a stranglehold.

A weighted rock about my neck.

It pulls me down.

There is no hope / no escape.

Sinking in a pool of dread.

 

Time has done her best to dismantle me.

We are no longer friends, her & I.

I vanish in her mist / she laughs.

It was her plan all along, to banish all of me.

Songs sung sweetly years ago, still linger on her tongue.

 

Do not cry for me. I have lived the life I chose.

The river birthed my tears, and carried them away.

Many years have passed. I tried to live them well.

Now it is my time. I cling to what remains.

Yesterday is gone and so am I

 

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. She is the winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year, her bio is featured in the Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 and 2021, published by Sweetycat Press. She is the author of 14 poetry books, and 1 short story book. She lives in Delaware, USA, with her husband and four cats. She loves gardening and cooking.

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