HAUNTED

She sees him standing by the edge
of the bar, getting another beer.
You can see the look of fear in her eyes:
his love has led to her demise.

But he doesn’t seem to care;
He doesn’t call her anymore
to help her lift herself
from the weathered, dirty floor.
All that remains are the stains of sorrow
to be swept away tomorrow
with what the patrons left behind.

His blank stare penetrates the smoky air
and the smell of defeat emerges from
the embers of her cigarette:
she finds it harder and harder to forget
the man who said he’d die without her.

Just like the love they once shared—
placed aside without a care,
like the empty glass on the bar.
As she looks up to pay the tab
she realizes that’s all she had
and he was never really standing there.

(JUNE, 2005)