By: Linda M. Crate

i linger
when i know i should be gone
because there is no
other place for me to be,
and i see their eyes
judging me;
but i have nowhere to go,
it’s as if they know
all my fears and insecurities—
eventually i leave,
and they ask me with sharklike
smiles the next time they
observe my countenance,
“why did you leave so early, we
missed you?”
oh, go choke on your false
insincerity and may your cruelty
burn you into embers
for you are not the stars i want
hanging in my skies
my stars burn brighter than yours
could withstand;
and so i will no longer linger where i am
no longer wanted
i shall forever free myself from the fools
and all their strings
by knitting my own tapestry
among the stars
because while lone wolves may get lonely
we do not need false sincerity or betrayal.