Love Poem: Games
J. I. Thomas F. Avatar
Written by: J. I. Thomas F.

Games

Such a pain it is to know not what feels—
Once this ruined heart knew how to gravitate.
But beauty’s malignant: it plots and it steals,
So damned unconcerned to alienate. 

Don’t flatter yourself, don’t be inurbane!
Don’t pretend there’s a scapegoat to slaughter.
If my love was a sin, my presence a stain,
Then my own soul must cause me to totter. 

Must I learn to adapt and live as you do—
To dissipate all but selfish design?
Should I feign to forget that life is untrue,
When transitory loves pierce me like a tine?

So capricious, the ones who know how to play. 
Perspicuous, yet they have nothing to say. 

7 September 2016

Written for “Ten Word Challenge” Poetry Contest sponsored by John Hamilton