Spilling down my throat
are these tears
I shed for you,
on your behalf,
for you failed to
even do that for me.
So I cried
for the last time,
before gulping down
these salt infused tears you gave me,
that accumulated over time,
causing me high blood pressure – a memorable
gift from you
that will last a lifetime.
All this gulping down
has left a bad taste in my mouth
and like all bad tastes do
they remind you to
never try them again.
You will now linger
like a bad taste
on my tongue.
That’s as close as
you'll ever get.
Bionote
Prerna Bakshi is a poet and writer of Indian origin currently based in Macao. Her work has previously been published in over two dozen journals and magazines, most recently in Grey Sparrow Journal, Silver Birch Press, Wilderness House Literary Review, Kabul Press, and Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature. She tweets at @bprerna