The Parade

Favorable weather with flowers in May,
I came down to see you and watch the parade.
You weren’t there because you’d found another,
I walked away silently and left the bouquet.

Today my attention, tomorrow my love;
I’d give to you everything like the sky to a dove.
But you had no interest in returning the fire
So I gave up my kindle and abandoned the pyre.

I burned down the bridges and lowered the gates
And walled myself up in a palace of hate.
I forgot how to love and let go of the reins,
Submitting to solitude, consumed by the pain.

by Garret Woo

c. 2004 edited 2/13/2019