Paul Burgess

True but False 

I’d never really say you’ve lied 
although your memory seems to fade
‘til emptied of the vows you’ve made
when lying naked by my side.

Embracing on the fitted sheet,
you’ve whispered words we’d both believed 
before I knew you were deceived 
by how you’d felt in passion’s heat.

I act as if I didn’t know 
that all the lovely words you’ve said
will vanish once we’re out of bed
and things’ll go the way they go.

You mean no harm and bear no guilt
for getting drunk on sweat and steam,
but what you’d sworn became the dream
on which my will to live was built.

Paul Burgess is the sole proprietor of a business in Lexington, Kentucky that offers ESL classes in addition to English, Japanese, and Spanish-language translation and interpretation services. He has recently contributed work to Blue Unicorn, The Road Not Taken, Light, Apricity, Star*Line, The Orchards, Snakeskin, Pulsebeat, and several other publications.