by Lindsay McLeod

So
it has come to this.
The gnaw
where I find myself
getting lost on purpose
because smiling is now
frowned upon here.

Best I leave this
as I first found it
(drunk on indifference
the King of Empty Cups)

and hope that perhaps
in time she will forgive
my hesitant gratitude
because
you never can tell

one day this pain
might just be useful
but
oh dear God the cost.

Lindsay McLeod is an Australian writer who lives quietly on the coast of the great southern penal colony with (yet another ferocious Aussie animal) his adored blue heeler, Mary. His work has found homes in Firefly, Oddball, Burningword, Five2one, Mad Swirl, Drunk Monkeys, Leaves of Ink, Words Dance, Fine Flu, Literary Nest and more.