The Toys We Play With

created by alcoholicpoet.com

the distance turns on tattered maps. the miles falter in their soiled gowns. flirting with the waning monsters. chewing on the broken candy in tomorrow's delipidated houses. 

the truth lives in empty boxes. all the glorious secrets of little men. 

i almost kept. 

skin like quicksand. 

every breath stumbles over the next. words like vultures. feast on time's decaying flesh. 

the table shudders as we place our final bets. the fairy tale's teeth sharper than they've ever been. 

time shrugs its shoulders as we knock on its back door. 

 the stale  reward of desolate orphans. the distance chokes on our stubbornness.

little dolls. their paper smiles. 

left out in the rain too long. 

found in Poetry August 2024