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In troubled days still unaware,
I thought upon a maiden, fair,
Who languished in the corner
And I wondered who has kept her there.
Her tears attest to deep neglect.
She chose a life that she'd regret
And looks behind lest she forget
When then was now and now was yet.
Fleeing darkness, she awakes
Straining silence 'til it breaks.
Gasps of sound escape her choke.
Darkness ends because she spoke.
Step by step she walks alone,
Contemplating what was done.
Heart of honey turned to stone.
Loss and ache and life unknown.
At the edge of sanity
Life is cold and death is free.
Other corners will there be?
Past the dark she cannot see.
In troubled days I could not bear,
I sank and wept and was aware—
The maiden in the corner, fair;
I am he who kept her there.
Published on March 17, 2021
by Brandon Singleton
Photo by Bethany Zwag on Unsplash