Bent over, a hard brightening –
A beating blankness white,
I try to focus on my books
Alas—unequal fight—

A crackling witticism,
A sharp snap-dragon jest,
An explosion of pure emptiness,
With white lies overdressed,

A gleaming, glossy, blackened curl
Stirs softly on her breast,
He turns around and tells her that
“You always were the best”—

Aflame, the lamps of laughter
Burst boldly into light,
Their voices soaring like the paper
Lanterns lit at night,

My bluely broken wings still quiver,
Fettered in their flight,
I’d wrench out my beclouded eyes
Spare me of such a sight!—

My pinions struggle in my cage
In darkness I reach out,
From banal shrieks and giggles trite
To turn to a new page.