lexical catharsis

and to what effects

does the poet use apologia

laced with emotion

to deny she ever

tightened ropes

around her beloved’s neck?

analyse the way in which

their lips never

fully touch,

how they never lie

completely still in their sleep,

held captive by a paradox

of unanswered rest.

but to what extent could one claim

that the syntax of stars

was ever in their favour,

when it could be said

they never even dreamed

in the same small bed?