suffering a deficit of fundamental necessity

hollow

raised to expect nothing

to desire nothing

i’m a scarecrow watching the barren fields

crows perched on my shoulders

ignoring my basic functions in favor of a clearer view to tomorrow

i sip from a flask of distilled spirit

listless

going through the emotions of the day

has anyone told you that you are stunning today

you are

take it from a ghost rattling about in the halls of remorse

impoverished and broken

you are a glittering gem in the coal dust of misery

an innocent tiding from the nearly departed

you could have loved me once upon a crime

when the before was bursting with chance

but you’re perfect in your skin

even as i was shed mine and skulk into the shadowy realm of could have been and wasn’t

just wanted to leave you one final note scrawled in the dust on the fluted glass

a faint shudder as the room is shuttered

the key tossed into the deepest well of oh wells and missed messages

faded farewells and forgotten flourishes

i’ll miss you

good bye