the afterlife that awaits
those abandoned dreams and drafts
never to have reaped
the throb of a living applause,
jettisoned to a cesspool
of scratch paper and crude ridicule,
hoping for another chance
looking for a second glance

the afterlife that awaits
the thoughts that poured from nowhere
the whispers that only thy heard
the hands that danced in unison
for a miserly audience of one
for the time that waited on none
begging to sit in the lap of revelry
teasing to sip in its dreamy melody

the afterlife that awaits
untold tales that wilt in agony
unheard rhapsodies that sing in grief
bereft of a place on the mantel
relegated to the dustbins of ignominy
fortunate are those minuscule few
to breath again under a bright new sun
to live anew a journey that just begun