Maybe That

It’s there in the middle of the room.

Why can’t you see what everyone can see?

I guess there’s not much more we can say

Yet it has been there all this time,

Something you just could not leave and let be

Forcing him out before noon.

It’s been years and you let yourself

 walk well beyond that moral line.

When you turned your back to integrity

It was clear you had gone too far.

Your private world was broken

So you had him carry your burdens with his.

You weren’t going to let him get away

And maybe that’s the reason he now can’t stay.

It’s not easy telling you this

That you are not where you belong.

This life you’re stuck on to play

Has impacted not just anyone.

The hard truth makes you want to stop this stay,

Something you just couldn’t walk away from when you should

Bringing us here too early and too soon.

It’s been years and you keep telling yourself

   that your relationship is nothing and simple and fine.

When you crossed that ethical line

You claimed her as yours even from afar.

Keeping her as your token

Even though ultimately there was nothing to be gained.

Unwilling to stand up and walk away,

And maybe that’s the reason you now can’t stay.

I don’t think it was ever a waste

But it’s been there where we’ve crossed that space.

And your private world was broken

To his public one that was before and is now.

You weren’t going to let him even have a say,

And maybe that’s the reason he now can’t stay.

It’s plain as day still there, in the middle of the room.

And maybe that’s the reason you now can’t stay.

And maybe that’s the reason for the end of this stay.

Maybe that.

06.27.21

 © Kerri. L. Stanley

Broken Belief

You were something for all to see.

Yeah, you impressed us with your style.

You showed us who you wanted to be.

You took your shot and missed it by a mile.

You’ve lost your way somehow.

Did you forget your vows?

You preach, we hear,

We all follow your stance.

We let you lift us up

And devote to be better.

Still you hide your secret within,

And we promise to never give in.

It’s the price we all will pay

Until we are forced to throw it all away.

Belief flows like the rain coming down.

It ain’t easy to keep your prayers alive.

We hoped you’d eventually come around

And your mistakes you’d avoid next time.

But how right it was back then.

Do you remember when?

You preach, we hear,

We all follow your stance.

We let you lift us up

And devote to be better.

Still you hide your secret within,

And we promise to never give in.

It’s the price we all will pay

Until we are forced to throw it all away.

02.28.21                                                                                                                     

© Kerri. L. Stanley

Clear as Day

It's the other life that you live

Behind the wall of deception,

That you think if nobody sees it,

Leaves you immune to only perfection.

Thinking transparency throws off any doubt,

You’re the driver of this extended expedition.

Yet you are never the one behind the wheel,

So there’s no need for any contrition.

Entangled for years in this guidance

That really is your parallel fantasies,

That because you avoid any intimacy,

Only blinds you to what you think is seen.

This emotional momentum has surpassed

Any spiritual connection on which the seed was planted.

Now compromised and tangled is your subconscious,

To remedy or even realize it’s too late to be recanted.

An emotion we don’t like to endure

Is that of loneliness and isolation.

Yet His house has begun to start to teeter,

Where there are too many cracks in its foundation.

It’s actions like these that harden our hearts,

But keep telling yourself that nothing is wrong.

You think it all affects nobody around you;

You will continue with burying truths forever and so long.

It’s the other life that you live

For the better part of many a day,

That has brought on this turbulence now.

There are none so blind to what is clear as day.

02.27.21 

© Kerri. L. Stanley