“perhaps the butterflies are mute because no one would believe their terrible stories”
– Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

a poem by Shawn Anto

not letting you go
this weakness, idling misery
nothing is nature making tragedy unavoidable
it is my choice
so lie to me
there are no incongruities in the world of these demons
angels shimmering like that day you told me it would all stop
full pause & didn’t stop, that day you said you would get help
knelt at the base of a stranger God
but don’t ever say you are sorry
because you are not
you know what’s happening, each stride in your step
fully conscious, deliberate pang in this room
this constant extortion from others
what truth could gut these animals, flesh pounding
a doldrum, a constant behavior animalistic this touch
is a phrase of gnawing, pejorative in critical words
I am sorry – Eo Ipso

a belief that if a question is not principle
this full answerable form, it is not a genuine question at all
that somewhere exists a solution for problems, though it may
be concealed in the light, in the dark, far off hidden treasure, a remedy
by this you mean: faith
they say all evil is tragedy due to ignorance, what sways a sleeping beast
what could we need but a story to settle a lie we tell each other
tell me everything is going to be okay
and it will like that ‘til we forget—
I’m not letting you go.

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