Forsaken

By Xin Liu

Layers on fragile skin, akin to forsaken burns

lingering upon half-healed wounds,

Scraping past old ugly scars

that paste themselves upon this skin.

A coating of protection,

this weak armor against the storm;

Cuts on paper thin, tears on wrinkled truth,

feasting on faded words,

A struggle of forlorn hope.

Apathy of forgotten dreams,

lines of temptation etched themselves

on unspeakable words and unbearable pain,

Only to be unable to toss it all away.

Twists and turns on locked maze

entwine around circles of untraceable mark.

Directionless and lost,

Puzzles and missing pieces,

destined for insolvable answers

pricks its finger on the skin.

Burns of unwanted secrets, stitches of unkept vows

dragged itself through the mind,

Passed the hollow heart and into the eyes.

Visions of appealing greatness,

fantasy of misguided deception,

Chain the poor soul,

And enrapture the pitiful creature.

– Xin Liu is a sophomore at Lawrence High School.