But For One ...

Do you write to a standard

that isn’t your own

Do you pledge your allegiance

to a dilettante throne

Do you shut out your Muse

when her words pierce the skin

Do you think before feeling

looking out never in

Is your nighttime belabored

with dreams from the past

Is the daylight a hunter

 your guilt running fast
 

Is the one choice that’s left you

the one you can’t make

Is the courage required

—your one failing grace

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)