december (the ending is not)

wide eyes transformed into quicksand
like black holes bending the dim light
and an instinct that forced me to stay

last year's hallways resounding still hollow
the cold lights, the glass nights, the circles
in a wasteland outstretched for miles

irresistible choices were fated
in a story of dark twists and left turns
for the one door i could not but close

so you slept, you hid and still clung to
a fairy tale turned into nightmare
not the life that was ripe to reclaim

of a sudden, however, you came to
something gave, and the floodgates thrown open
of a sudden you showed up alive

to windward now facing the unknown
this year of rebirth whispers wisdom
leave to die that which left you to die

(2023)

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