Batteries Concluded

My batteries are draining, as all hope within is lost,

A spirit maimed and waning from the overwhelming cost.

I once believed in lovers, in the brightness of their charms,

The warmth beneath the covers, and the safety of their arms—

But now, inside the prism of a devastating truth,

I cling to cynicism and my dissipating youth.

The price of love is greater than the currency I hold,

Which scraped a gaping crater where my heart had harbored gold.

I only taste the bitter, as I feast on dreams of loss,

Discarding hope like litter in a matte expanse of dross.

I shut my eyes, succumbing to the sense of overload,

A merciful benumbing of my heart, where love was stowed.

There’s nothing left but leaving, once the batteries are spent,

No gnashing teeth or grieving, just a final one percent…

…And then, with dark prevailing, I at last can claim my peace—

No feeling, fault, or failing—just the freedom of release.

David Nelson Bradsher