Burned Inside Out

my chest heaved
when I thought
that you might really leave
this time, and
even though I ought
to calm down,
my rotting insides
pushed against my skin,
and my face became
one big frown;
a scary visage indeed
on the face of an
old clown
like me;
a pity to see
all that vigor
turned useless, flaccid:
burned inside out
by love's acid.



January 5, 2009, for Jan.

Copyright © 2009, Ricky A. Pursley. All rights reserved.