I didn’t do my lines
to not have learnt
the lesson.
I didn’t recklessly imbibe
to realise you can’t drink
from the same cup.

The mildewed cheek
of sodden-pillowed years
finally taught me,
uncompromisingly,
never to bend
to another’s will.

And my heart
wasn’t cast,
without leaving rope
to haul it back in.

I didn’t come all this way
for nothing.