You say you like

You say you like

What I have to say

Which is a wonder

When I doubt its

Sincerity

The truth of my words

Lie

In their absence of conviction

Nothing erks me more

Than a lack

Of realism

I am less than I thought

More obtuse than

A bonehead

With self-esteem issues

Everything I have ever touched is dead

Or dying.

This room is a cypher

The only truth

Lies in its slow decay

Even the flowers

On the table

Are not real

Nothing I do rings true

Sometimes I speak out loud

Hoping for an answer

I live in fear of

Rejection

It is easier to

Be disconnected

The phone is on silent

The blinds are drawn

The lights are on

At midday

Isn’t it the way

Of the dreamer

To invent a frame of reference

Be the lonely one

The only one

Feel sorry

For oneself

I get that in

Before somebody else

Says it for me

That would be the pits

Even I get on my tits

It’s less about narcissism

Than it is

About the fear

Of exposure

If I saw myself

As others do

I would die

Or see someone

I don’t know

But I might like

If I had the sense

Enough to try.