Love Poem: Wildcat
Erin Beckett Avatar
Written by: Erin Beckett

Wildcat

Sweet dreams...
But don't try masking the seasons
in gold. 
You never needed to,
but thought so

because what we call love cuts us
like a crashing chandelier,
stinging all the more for how pretty 
it used to be... 
And to know

what it feels like 
watching years accumulate that itchy mold
is harder still. Because we never knew
what we were looking for,
even after we pick ourselves up 
from our dusty rooms
to walk the same lines.
At least we're braver than we know,

but doomed to fail 
if we play by rules we're urged to swallow-
A cosmic joke.

Now let me tell you how to win..
Choose the lion on the carousel, 
steal him away while you run out laughing.
Kiss your lovers,
hold your friends to their words.

Don't fear your reflection
when you've let those hands 
leave their mark,
and don't know why you're aching.
We're all a part of the circus,
start a new act.
Don't give in to the darkness
all for show-

Light a candle and roar.