Poetry through the Seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
something intimate
in the fading light.
cigarette butt
under boot heel.
white haired man.
sad girl.
shoulders kiss
on back porch steps.
a grin
only for him.
these are lonely days.
something intimate
in the night.
white haired man.
sad girl.
quiet comfort
in the fading light.
In white she appears, taking his breath,
though in truth he’d lost it a century before.
Her, he’d lost
seven plus
forty plus
one hundred days ago.
A hero’s death, though it matters not.
She stands small, weary from her journey,
her hands torn and bloodied. No one guesses
how they got so damaged, but he knows,
having fought the same battle back from the grave.
He is tender, soothing her wounds with
Mercurochrome and gauze, the only one
she can feel tortured with. He knows torture,
having dished out and taken his share.
Her sadness spills from his eyes and he
slams his hand. In his dreams, he’d saved her.
But despite strength, despite promises, despite
love, she died.
I’m fine, she lies, struggling to make it
from one moment to the next. Her secret,
she shares only with him. She can’t let
her friends know what she’s lost.
She was in paradise, not purgatory,
ripped back into a world of darkness
by those who claim their love.
Now they expect her to be happy.
But what is happiness to a soul
that’s been at peace? Can a story,
once complete, begin again?
Lying underground,
blond hair on white pillow,
fingernails and hair
still growing after death,
I awaken in my coffin,
gasping for air,
clawing through silk,
through wood,
through dirt,
summoned back
by your heartbreak.
But you, so selfish
in your sadness,
forgot where I lay
when you called me back,
and assumed my time away
was filled with sorrow.
The urn is smooth and silky
in my hands. The way
beneath my feet, craggy.
A stumble
launches her remains
into the wind,
joining with the mist
to hide my sorrow.
You share her face. I can’t
bear to look upon it.
Tiny creatures gather
for an impromptu memoriam
as I harvest pieces of her
from the garden.
Scant nourishment
for the starving.