Longing
The days filled with yearning seamlessly blend into one another
My regret knows no bounds
My longing no end
Slumber is the balm that soothes my aching heart
Only to be afflicted once more when day breaks
Misery spills from my breast
Radiating sadness into my body
A stranger looks at me in the mirror
I peer into the looking glass to see a man I do not know stare back as if we are familiars
Where has my reflection gone?
I exist in anguish
There is no cure for what ails,
No balm to soothe
Reality seems to be a nightmare, I will never wake up from
I think of you endlessly
I seek solace in the slumbering palaces of Somnus
Only to be subject to the maddening machinations of Morpheus
Plagued by dreams of you
Tormented into derangement by visions of a life imagined
But never ensured
If one must imagine Sisyphus content
One must also liken me to Tantalus
Cursed to have all that I desire
The fruit of your love
The torrents of your affection
Just out of reach
Taunting me as if to say
“Look at what you've lost”
I fault you not for any of this
For I know that I am the architect of this misery of mine
I alone am prisoner
And I alone am the warden
More than anything I wish you happy
Even more than I wish that it were me that made it so
Judah King is a Senior History and Social Science Major with a minor in Music from Chesapeake, Virginia. Judah is an avid lover of the written and performing arts. He loves singing and writing poetry. He has been writing poetry and music since he was eight, and his poems were first published at 18. In addition to going into higher education, he plans to pursue his creative passions as a traveling opera singer and potentially publish a book of his poems.