staring

the poetry left
a bitter taste in her mouth,
and eyes,
and heart.
the worry hadn’t set in yet,
no, it hadn’t begun to ache.
she wasn’t aware that she was staring off
into space
as if to see through the wall,
as if to see out the bars
of her prison cell
and spread wings
and take flight.
simply,
the words had taken everything.
the paper had absorbed all thought.
she could hear a voice,
the whisper of the ink
upon the parchment,
telling her to take heart
in vain.
the bars were neither here
nor there
but she felt them all the same.
and the words
had taken everything.
so all she was left with
was the empty numbness
and the bitter taste in her mouth.