Vanda

05 February 2026

https://poems.culturing.net/2026/02/vanda/

Have I imagined you? Suddenly I feel once again
as if figments of dreams have become something real...
have I lost the thread that leads out of the maze,
to the trail of breadcrumbs that I myself laid?
Are you cruel? Are you kind? Are you both?
I have not had the chance to know, but these signals,
if merely a shadow game, would be cruel.
I have stayed in the hope they were something more.

--

On the other hand, it remains possible
that you are a narcissist, enticing my love
for the sake of mockery or to teach me some lesson.
Is that your purpose? If so, you are strangely
committed to it. If so, we can drop the charade.
Consider my lesson learned, the lesson
that love, if done right,
is invigorating...even with a careless partner.
But once they are shown to be careless,
it's better to leave them alone.

--

It would have been nice to know you,
but if you have made your choice,
then I must make mine.

If my words have meant something to you,
keep them,
but don't ask for more.

--

Yet I can't believe that you're Vanda,
or, if you are, that it's not just a phase.
Is that really the "love" you prefer?
You know better.

--

Must you try on black to darken the hue of appalling white?
Must you go to extremes just to find the center?
If this is your purpose, to heal, I commend you,
but witness the danger. It's what will save you
from the trap of darkness. Catch sight
of the path that leads home, the path
with a panoply of colors, with lights along the way.