You, Illusion

YOU, ILLUSION

You didn't end

up being any better.

You were nothing

but an illusion;

          angled mirrors, fishing

          line, and choking fog.

The sunny aura that

surrounded you,

          blinding and euphoric,

has dimmed

enough for me to

make out the lines, to

see the details, the things that

are truly there.

They are no

longer things that are left

only to my

optimistic imagination,

          sticking rainbows where

          spiderwebs go.

I wanted to

believe every thing you

told me so badly,

          each word a

          raindrop on desert sand

               each word a

               warm, smooth stroke on my head

                    each word a

                    hit of adrenaline

                         each word a

                         smile on my face.

                          But the raindrops were

                          of acid and salt,

                    the warm, smooth strokes

                    slit my throat,

               the hits were

               truly tainted heroin

         and the smiles were

         freckled with cavities

oozing pus and pain.

-Jackie