“Condemned” and “Fragility” – Poems by Michelle Cheng

Condemned 

 

Untouchable, they lay

Side by side, only tinged with mistakes

Inescapable prisons

Bound with not simply regret

 

But uncharted discoveries 

And intangible dreams

Forever wandering aimlessly

Throughout the plane of mortal follies

 

And yet, silently they chuckle

Their amusement unheeded

For what purpose do they laugh?

 

They have been reduced

To less than nothing

 

Simply dust

Simply ashes

Simply gone

 

Fragility

 

Hollow trees filled with

Shadows of acorns

And shells of fruit

 

Husks of once-proud sprouts

Bearing trunks with poise

And not slumped with grief

 

Their withering tendrils’

Sustainment

Crumble hatefully upon themselves

 

Shame beyond redemption

Loathing beyond salvation

Despair beyond mercy

 

Fragility