Gavel

By Bhavishya

Sky blue and green leaves

Waking up was so easy

Cold rain days, hymns at night

Tales of chariots, of men, of kites

Every marking caught her eye

She learned religiously and with fire

Reading the poems, saying her prayers

The rose in her glasses fading, for worse, for better

She knew defeat and she knew the game

In her warping bubble she had her aims

So she was not lost – she knew the game

The road was straight and forged, all plain

She had her dreams signed by life

And knew good and evil but not their wiles

Magic words and magical worlds

But something changed at all those turns

How much farther could she run wild and free,

Without stopping, a pause to breathe?

She truly was better than me

Even beaten she could smile, all teeth

With the moon weaving a new lullaby

The splinters of my heart come to life

And I see her without looking

Screaming silent questions

I’d weep trying to nurse her back on her feet

Because I know she was so much better than me

A force as fiery as a whip, as cool as the sea

Blissful dark, pure light for a world so bleak

I stand here, a shadow drawing lines

I stay here to pick up her fallen smiles

Then in my castle’s tallest tower I lie

Hedged and fenced from rest all night

But on this dawn I looked at her to see

And I’m glad she was so much better than me

Now I’m a bottle emptied of sparkling rage

Already having other battles to face

If she’s anything like the girl I used to be

She’s not just the ghost waking in my sleep

She is right here celebrating my victories

Yes, she is so much better than me

By Bhavishya