:: Rust ::

Last Light

Yesterday I was a scarlet daughter,
Today I return to pale.
Yesterday's truth was lamb to slaughter,
Today's light regains its hale.

Old lines come from young hands stained,
No perfume can swiftly sweeten,
New marks bruise an old sin strained,
No balm can save the beaten.

Each time I hold you I hold decay,
Each time we meet it's rot we find.
But as we have seen now yesterday,
Our weakness merely claims us blind.

Those who love me resort to blame,
Those who see sense seek to save.
Those who want me hates your name,
She who owns you makes you crave―

―Love? Ah, the loose, languid label,
Yet in your harmony I needed none,
Not love, not romance―all that Juliet babel,
Who cares for eternity―we cannot afford one.

So I surrender, no question, as you'd say:
This pain is already veteran soul.
I bring to-morrow our tender yesterday,
And bleed for last light's broken whole.