"permanent"

Shattered perfume bottles

cloud the floor like yesterday’s empty promises;

we pushed through

because we believed it was

the only way

and you could call it rigid

or you could call it misled

but whatever it is,

the tender age at which

the red roses became bloodstained

and the jumping for joy became jumping out of obligation

will never quite leave my head.

The water in the bath swirls

and the water in the pond ripples-

it is murky

and I am melancholy;

a man might say that I am hysterical

and a woman might say that I desire attention

but neither is true,

for ideally I would be left unperceived

but I suppose the whole of my problems

comes from not

being believed

and I would like to be

as invisible and as fleeting

as the fog and mist or the steam in the shower

but instead I am temporary

yet permanent to you.