Page 40 - HEF Pen & Ink 2023

38
All the Right Things
By Miranda Sheafor
I still feel bad
About every right thing
I started out so good
But now I’ve only ruined dreams Exactly as I should
I can’t quite forget
Every evening
When I watched you walk away Thought to myself
She’s not coming back
So pack your bags, well
Run away
Go before she leaves you first Make the airport by midday
Stop pretending you can change When we all know you’re the worst
I tell you all the answers
But deep down I know I’m wrong You got here first
But we both know
You can’t stay very long
I see you slip away
I watch you melt into the fray And think
This is all the end of things
I never should have stayed
I broke your pencil in the fourth grade Splinters scattered on my desk
Your stories lost their meaning
And left me with the mess
I guess I stole all of the pieces Ran them far as I could go
But I never fit the puzzle
So why’d I ever think I’d know?
I thought I’d try to fix you
Make one thing really right
But we knew it was a lost cause
I guess I never was real bright
We all knew I never broke you
But you still can’t see the shards
I watch you keep on running
Until the world’s been fried and charred
They thought you’d been the answer I thought at least that you were mine But the path has gone all blurry
Now I see it for the lie
I stood up one night
To speak my piece
Have something real to say But my lips failed all the words My brain had locked away
They’re drowning all around us And you tell me to walk on We’re moving for the two of us But not everyone is gone
I lost your smile at the bus stop And your hand back in New York I’m reaching for your heart beat And what all of this was for
By Brayden Brisko