A Heart In Ruins / 12-03-25 Poem by Leria Hawkins

Oh, the fury of disillusionment
Like a flock of seagulls crowding the rocky shore
Their ravenous beaks peck, ripping at the ruins
Sharp claws piercing every thought

You, the architect, the builder of their greed
The silent watcher of lost hopes and shattered dreams
Feigning your innocence in stainless steel armor
While casually dusting off the colors of your cruelty

How selfish to gather me in your web of lies
To hang the innocence on the cross of your arms
How cruel to salve with fawning and flattery
Then leave me to languish with the stinging bees

I walked through the hell of your fire
Suffered the highs and lows of whispered promise
I lived and died in the never-neverland of your rule
Yo-yoing somewhere between pleasure and despair

Over and over, I rewind the isolation of your leave
Time and again, feel the burning ache of misled desires
What a train wreck, a true travesty of trust
A matter now of cruel self-destruction

To have ventured, so very far, for so very long
So fleeting were the precious moments of our bond
I am jolted by the silence of the aftershock
My heart ripped, torn from its rightful place

My soul is devastated by the tearing of pages
Our history, torn from our book and tossed into flames
Burned and forgotten lyrics, lay as ashes on our grave
My songs are blown away by uncaring eyes

I have grown cold to the sentiments of the heart
I cannot give or take, or even consider the possibility
That love can lift and lead me on another journey
I have come to the end of my travels, and it's here
…I will dig my grave

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Copyright (2025) Leria Hawkins