Last night a storm raged outside.

Last night I forgot how to apologise.

Lightning streaked the sky;

electric crackles of the fury

I had no valid reason to feel

yet I continued to chew the insides

of my cheeks and furrow my brow

in thunder loud anger.

Even when the rains moved on

and the blue flashes buried themselves

into the distance;

I still drew blood instead of loved

the sound of your breathing beside me,

the softness of your slumber,

your freckled skin pulled taut

across your back, your body

I would protect against all odds.

 

The sun has since begun

to rise in the East and permeate

the bank of grey, dissipating

wreaths of last night’s sadness,

last night’s anger and still

I have forgotten how to apologise

for leaving my body,

for pulling the plug on the life

you love and live for,

for merging with the black and blue

clouds and bruising rapidly in the storm;

for letting go, when I should have held on.

 

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Poem: © Kristiana Reed 2019

Between the Trees UK

Between the Trees US

Available internationally