POETRY | RELATIONSHIPS

The Cold, Bitter Truth

Free Verse poem (from my Letter Series)

am I too cold for you, darling? do these lips bite with bitter chill or these hands freeze upon touch? are those goose bumps upon your skin how you greet the cold-hearted me you so eagerly created? Have I numbed you as you numbed me?

once these veins burned for you raged with a fire so fierce even my bones simmered with delight your touch sent electric jolts your lips singed my mouth, burnt my soul to trembling embers I became ashes from a mere glance

how did my fire turn to ice? a decade of cave dwelling with you hidden away with only bats for comfort where icy waters forged a bridge between a beating heart and frigid fists where your words became stalactites and pierced my soul a thousand times

my love meant so little to you that only by turning me into a shattered frozen lake a fractured, broken reflection could you see any resemblance of me in the perfection you held so dear staring back at the narcissistic you

yes, I am your creation, my darling a Siberian queen, bleak and bitter cool and aloof, detached from fire a callous, stinging reminder that our love was as destructive as icebergs crashing into the sea flooding the heart with salt and ice

we are no longer polar opposites my darling, I am you and you are me frigid, hidden, and utterly alone

©2016 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.

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Lori Carlson writes poetry, fiction, personal essays, creative non-fiction, and articles. She focuses on Spirituality, Life Lessons, Self-Awareness, Relationships, Mental Health, and LGBTQ+. She is the Owner/Editor of Promptly Written and Not For Bedtime Stories. You can find her older stories on her Medium Blog, Ravyne’s Nest.