By darkness I trolled
in my oft-shedding skin
Hidden alleys I roamed
for new victims at whim
But at last I must face
the deception I’ve wrought
And repay every memory
that festers and rots
As my twisted rebellion
turns its anger within
No forgive or forgetting
or my blaming the gin
In the few moments left
as I slither and weave
Still bearing false witness
against those I’ve deceived
My venom gets swallowed
death final and small
With the light I once blocked
—casting shame on it all
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)