She Stalks the Workshop
(the cruel muse)

No one will ever know what it is
    to be extinguished.
Love is fleeting
    and may never withstand
        the test of time.
It grows restless and will wander
    during the day.
At night lips are smeared red
    with blood,    
        surround
    stained teeth,
        fresh
    from the hunt.
In a flash the smile is taken away
    by the monster, 
        another face
     hidden
        in the crowd.

    There it is, that smile.

Her humble smile - a weapon, 
    the strength that keeps
        her ambitions alive.
I crave the exhilaration of her
    shattering me.
        and
    I want to sashay
    throw my arms out wide
        flap them
    like wings and fly
        but
    I am too busy dreaming, 
Tears roll down my face,
    as the world spins
        and splinters
    like smithereens
        of shimmering foil.
I am a lost soul imprisoned
    inside a carcass
        she discarded     
    on a rainy New York
        street corner.

She said I lacked Duende!

Peter V. Dugan hosts the poetry reading series Celebrate Poetry at the Oceanside Library, Oceanside NY and has written 4 collections of poetry. His poems have been published in several print and online publications, including Contemporary American Voices, Long Island Quarterly, Aberration Labyrinth, Grub Street, Literary and Arts Magazine and Aitia, Philosophy-Humanities Magazine.