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The Ballad of Apologies
(For My Twin Sister)
by Emily Corradino
Tattered crows, they stand over the grave of trust;
with a sullen flourish, they mount the wind, their voices ruling the ethereal twilight,
the delicate moon briefly imprisoned behind their macabre spread of wings.
In their absence, I find the dismembered remains of the love we once harbored;
scattered, rose petals over the burial, a pillow to the headstone.
Under the flickering of stars, I feel my heart hasten and memories ensnare me.
Soft giggles, kisses on noses, wishes on lashes,
moments to add to my scrapbook of things taken for granted.
Oh, what a dichotomy we were, you and I, but stitched together in a tapestry.
Woven side by side among contorted limbs of a family tree; we were the apples.
Growing pains of maturity have nurtured me and I emerged pristine.
But our journeys diverged; I'm sorry I left you to rot.
I find myself reaching desperately into our past, knowing I've lost you.
Once, I believed nothing in this world would separate us;
now I am left to gather the shreds of our shared history.
Here is where I find myself, standing over the coffin of our love;
how cynical must I be to have discarded it so effortlessly.
So, please, take me down with you,
enrobe me in ivy and passionflower, and let me sink into the stomach of the Earth,
and embed me in our grave of trust.
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