COVENANT POETRY AT PAPER POETRY

Covenant

Every time you touch her, you’ll want me

Say goodbye. Image generated by AI, prompt by author.

No promises written on paper or in stone,
just on hearts; covenants much harder
to break than ones sealed with ink or oath.
But easier to deny. I meant this, you say.

So many years and I know better. Time
was never kind to us, at least your time.
Promises written only on tender hearts,
etched deep; faint lines remain, like scars.

Faded but never disappear. Phantom pain.
Pentimento; reminder of what could have been.
Just when we think it’s gone, it comes alive
when we turn a certain way. Or remember.

I never promised, you said. Oh, but you did, lying
to both of us; still do. Two hearts that need no
vows to remember; just tomorrows dreamed,
painted on fragile canvas, that somehow never dries.

It didn’t have to be so hard. Ink and paper don’t create
the bond; no pledge sworn before a stranger makes it real.
This is what I swear to you now, though: You’ll search
for me in…