THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

In Summation:

At this hearing
I stand before my fellow members of the Tortured Poets Department
With a summary of my findings
A debrief, a detailed rewinding
For the purpose of warning
For the sake of reminding
As you might all unfortunately recall
I had been struck with a case of a restricted humanity
Which explains my plea here today of temporary insanity
You see, the pendulum swings
Oh, the chaos it brings
Leads the caged beast to do the most curious things
Lovers spend years denying what’s ill fated
Resentment rotting away galaxies we created
Stars placed and glued meticulously by hand next to the ceiling fan
Tried wishing on comets
Tried dimming the shine
Tried to orbit his planet
Some stars never align
And in one conversation, I tore down the whole sky
Spring sprung forth with dazzling freedom hues
Then a crash from the skylight
Bursting through
Something old, someone hallowed, who told me he could be brand new

And so I was out of the oven
And into the microwave
Out of the slammer and into a tidal wave
How gallant to save the empress from her gilded tower
Swinging a sword he could barely lift
But loneliness struck at that fateful hour
Low hanging fruit on his wine stained lips
He never even scratched the surface of me
None of them did
“In summation, it was not a love affair!”
I screamed while bringing my fists to my coffee ringed desk
It was a mutual manic phase
It was self harm
It was house and then cardiac arrest
A smirk creeps onto this poet’s face
Because it’s the worst men that I write best
And so I enter into evidence
My tarnished coat of arms
My muses, acquired like bruises
My talismans and charms
The tick, tick, tick of love bombs
My veins of pitch black ink
All’s fair in love and poetry
Sincerely, The Chairman of The Tortured Poets Department