Behind a Sigh

                I'm alone with back holes
              disappointment copes with the meanness
      hiding from hours of uncertainty
         naturally yes      

        if I play down what ifs
       I'll stand still
                    with the sorrow continuing
            lousing everything up         

  was it darkness
   in an inherited fashion
             was it chaos
               for so long
      though surely this isn't the future we hoped for
                though it's a test of faith
          as it all ends
           I'm struck by an orange absurdity
       
  as the clock runs out
  all the bells are tolling
                   love is so much mediocrity
        disillusionment is what it is

       a horrible weeping
                for some time
         the probability of a fiendish obstacle
                 absorbed by the language of ghostly insinuations

David M. Alper’s forthcoming poetry collection is Hush. His work appears in Invisible City, Quibble, Scapegoat Review, and elsewhere. He is an educator in New York City.

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