Flatterers and Pretenders: a poem

November 17, 2014

_MG_1480[1] — (Illustrated by Ruaa Labanieh)

By RUAA LABANIEH
Staff Writer
Be careful of blue eyes, honey tongues,
the ones who bite sweetly into your soul
with sharp teeth and shallow lungs,
leaving their venomous words in deep punctures
to bleed and leak your inspiration and imagination.
Be careful of ghosts and shadows,
the ones who disappear and reappear
when the monsters come knocking at their door
and their mistakes become too heavy a burden to bear.
Be careful of small laughs and sly smiles,
the ones hidden behind a sneering palm,
tinkling with the sound of deceit and pretense
as their eyes undress the doubts and expose your insecurity.
Be careful of cold fingers and empty hands,
the ones who take but never give,
the ones who pity but never suffer,
hollowing your heart and bursting their own.

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