Kamden Hilliard

Anti-love poem

I really wish I could write that poem
The one with the lilacs and the saffron
But my pen is broken
And my sympathy valves are all gummed up
So I’m sitting here, sorrow choked
And wishing I could write that poem.

The one with the references to William Faulkner and panthers.
But Faulkner is confusing,
And I don’t even know where to find a panther,
I don’t even know which continent to start on.

But let’s be honest, this is not about me wishing I could write that poem.
Mostly, I’m writing to avoid
Writing another love poem
Because love poems are like candy
And I’ve had one stomachache too many to be naive here.

Candy-coated consonants corrode teeth,
and I don’t see the dentist for another three months.

I’m done sucking sympathy from soliloquies.

So this is my poem not about love

This is my poem about Faulkner riding a Panther to deliver lilacs and saffron to a girl
who used to smell like trees.