Painstaking (a poem)

I’ve taken painstaking care

to avoid this moment

when the hot solar flares

take away my chance at atonement

for the crimes I’ve committed

& the lovers I’ve lost

for the criminals I’ve acquitted

& the innocent lives it cost

we never really outrun our pasts

they slowly become our future

we hold onto delusions until the last

moment, ending in mental torture

(Photo by Zach Vessels on Unsplash)