poem / two-in-one

Even as the darkness groaned

the reigning confusion a second home

I painstakingly intoned

ever so slowly a heart wrenching poem

Of two people it spoke, I gather

one hounded by memories

of days gone past; the other

trying to carve out of chaos his peace

Then the bright floodlights burn

my eyes as I squinted to read

about battles of love won only to learn

of terrible wars lost to greed

When the lights dimmed again 

the poem took a frightful turn

as they made a deathly bargain

on promises, a wrath not to earn

But they failed to see, blinded by loss

that I was infested with fear

and yearned calm waters—for I was

two people stuffed in one right here