Mutual Narcissists

i am selfish as any other;
did i fool you

a well-constructed 
façade collapses and 

i am small - again

thick with unmet needs, 
a ravenous hunger for 

unable to extend 
the benefit of, 
overcome by doubt 

we ignore a 
beauty we might 
have mirrored 

face-to-face
with our kindred, 
secret ugly selves 

is this the end 
of an impossible 
innocence

or the path to 
a more honest us

Wise Beyond Years

it's alright, he said, to comfort me
all you tried to do was care about someone;
it doesn't matter if another doesn't reciprocate,
rejects you, or misunderstands you;
it matters that you loved

I'm sorry that you're hurt, he said;
remember there are those to
whom your willingness
means everything;
it matters that you love them

First Last

opposites 
at either end 
pull toward 
the other 

necessary 

first carries, last seeks; 
too much, too little 

on their respective paths, 
polarity reverses; 

first shakes loose, 
last is overwhelmed

A cut-up poem - poetry prompt

My latest cut-up poem, created from random words in magazines and three lines of three different poems. Most interesting to me was what my voice sought and created.  

I Wish I'd

With purity of intent 
I take the clue divine 
authenticity is a rare and valuable 
new, darker existence 

A writer's life erases a man's past 
with rhetorical flourish 
his old self an overwhelming version 
around his neck

You'll be there, freighted with meaning 
a sunny Tuesday, a white-stuccoed house, 
a single-digit number, 
drawing curtains, wooden shutters 

the soul that has a ghost 
too costly for repairs

You Would Have Liked to Have Loved Her Better

our hidden indiscretions
nut-browned skin, big eyes
a gap between our teeth
the better to bite them with

into the liquid sea,
we slipped so easily
our addiction for abandon
instinctual, secretive

felled by force, your
scarce nylons torn
one round heel broken
skirt askew in a corner
forearms, hips bruised

i know you know i do

felled by polite chemicals
clothing peeled from leaded limbs,
a plea before descent;
waking in a naked room
beaten in places not visible

you know me know you do

you would have liked
to have loved her better;
your silence a sentence
hers, a pain unintended

enough, you said, enough 
no choice was your voice

i know you know i know you know