discarded, your cherished lyre,
along with your wreath of myrtle and roses:
gathering dust on the nightstand
alongside a stack of paperback romances.
sad, solitary apartment-dweller,
you reminisce about your glory days:
stroking sensual chords,
rousing melodies,
drawing whispers from the lips of lovers;
conducting intimate shadows,
sweetening senses,
igniting verse in the touch of lovers;
scripting fiery passions,
animating desire,
painting lyric poetry in the eyes of lovers.
mute, companionless recluse,
you hoard unsolicited scraps of verse.
Eros, your torchbearer, abandoned you,
left you fuming at the decline of romance
as social networking and online dating services
devalued the language of lovers.
Lee Clark Zumpe, an entertainment editor with Tampa Bay Newspapers, earned his degree in English at the University of South Florida. He began writing poetry and fiction in the early 1990s. His work has appeared in a variety of literary journals and genre magazines over the last two decades. Recent publication credits include Space & Time, Lovecraftiana, Illumen, and The Literary Hatchet. Upcoming appearances include Dreams and Nightmares, Penumbra, and Spectral Realms. Lee lives on the west coast of Florida with his wife and daughter.
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