departs, void, emptiness

and a substitute that feels

off; hard to place – the pieces

cause an indigestion not immediate, not consistent,

noise? rumble, mumble, groan,

or signal that the core is gone, wiped out

replaced with a dummy, a boogeyman crying like a child,

different faces, same hearts, different smiles,

the same memory replays, change the tape,

nostalgia grips tighter, don’t leave me. poignant almost. sad

quite certainly. when sweetness still soothes

till the jagged glass cuts, slices, intrudes even more deeply

when missing pieces do not form

patterns familiar, familiarity misplaced,

cuts again – the core has changed,

cuts again,

sweetness is bitter, bitter bad

as a memory becomes a child’s face innocent

with a murderer on the loose!

boogeyman cries out sharply, sweet like,

the tension of wanting to let go,

still holding the hands of innocence: deluded.

feels real, the mind replays a tape rusty, corrupted, corroded,

jagged glasses gives a finishing touch – burns.

a quiet terror, a startling discovery, always suspected,

fakeness and reality intertwined, pushing pulling

tides

waves

boiling

churning

steaming

effervescence,

failed adaptation.