wordplay

so you like to string together words, tossing promises,

nice things on a string

like a kite in the wind,

papery, fragile, flimsy.

i thought they were solid and

pure like rocks falling from the sky;

i'd pick up each pebble and examine

every side and detail

feeling all surfaces and textures

as if

they were real

promises like bubbles,

floating sweet and clear as glass but

every time i draw near,

each time i reach out to

grasp one in my hands,

it bursts and vanishes without a trace

of having ever existed..

and is it foolish to stand

silent with empty

hands,

holding the invisible remains

of empty promises?

until denial creeps in and argues

with my imagination.

you were there, but as if a ghost,

to leap behind and hide before the silence

after a gust.

you were there,

but nevermore.