poetry and battery acid

trying, as i was,
to leach the poison from
inside me
it spilled on you
and battery acid
through my hands
would not scour it clean

and i poisoned
the last thing
pure

and i tarnished
the last thing
bright

and i lost
the last thing
precious

and my barbed wire heart
will not forgive
what i did


June 6, 1996
© Lela Kaunitz