By Nailah Starks, Dillard University
Raptured
You’ve got me
Captured
in this prison you call passion.
You starve me then tell me you love me
how can you love me and deprive me of all my needs?
Don’t think I mistake your sweat for air, my tears for water, and shame for cloth
I know a mirror reflects my every thought, word, cry…
I know you don’t care.
My nights are filled with memories of scars you’ve left on my chest
days race, glide through my face like the winds of spring.
For a second I think I see a smile...almost.
God is too much of a mystery to tell me when you fell out of love
He taunts me, strangles my angels as punishment for my choosing you
time and time and time and time again.
My first name, your last
you always came first
I last.
We didn’t last.
Had we left it up to chance maybe...nah.
We were always doomed.
I thought I’d take a sip, dip my toe in
never thought I’d fall off the deep end
we’re in the deep end
far too in
in too deep
Don’t you know that I can’t swim?
As I drown in your pool I wonder will you sink or float
You surprise me every time.
About the Author
Nailah Starks is a 20-year old Sophomore English major at Dillard University with a vision to become a successful teacher and writer. Her poetry has been published in the 2019 and 2020 Appelley Rising Stars collection as well as the 2020 Upon Arrival anthology by Eber and Wein Publishing. She also has her own blog, Praying Girl, and her own business, N&N Charms. Nailah's personal mission statement is to educate, influence, transform, and inspire people who face adversity through her writings and personal experiences.
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