ours alone

she & she or

she & he or

he & he or

locked in a cage

like birds with clipped wings

staring through the bars out at the sunlight making its way over the back of the early morning mountains

with a cool breeze blowing through their hair

wondering just where it went wrong

staring one another in the eyes

coming to the realization simultaneously that

“this misery is ours alone”---

the codependence that reigns supreme

adjoining the two at the hip

sacrifices what little dreams they might have had independently of one another

for the bucket list bullshit disguised as

harmony &

the seasoned pipe dreams of teenage love of which

they are a long long way from the sound of the

starting gun,

but alas, the most pessimistic of onlookers may claim that

what’s done is done &

therefore, what hope is left remains in the

silence of death which will bring one the peace of

ceasing to be & the other

the peace of ceasing to be attached to

a sinking weight

when still trying to at least tread water in the middle of a vast

deep

ocean.