21.

In your eyes
I see, that those presented
as most strong, are those
most complicit in deceit.

***

22.

Who controls what we think?
Sometimes I tell myself
I do

***

23.

I’m trapped again,
stuck to your sweet voice,
your whispered honeydew words
leaving a brilliant sheen
in my bronze eyes.

***

24.

I await your lips
in water’s reprieve,
arrhythmic heart trembling
within my sleeve.

***

25.

I could have died,
left
alone
in your heart.

*****