“Black Strips of Poverty” – Poem

By

What kisses came across

Your ivory skeleton.

Your form had receded from its fullness

Back to the elegance of death,

And I came across as something far more frightening.

I was far more truthful

Than the bony fingers you used to run through

Those black strips of hair.

I was the hope you lacked,

And have I betrayed you

When you say you want to die?

Have I abandoned you,

After our hearts dried of its rivers of love?

I have become embittered,

And I do not mean,

But do mean,

To release it upon you.