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choose your dustbin

faith bared

barren accolades

games of string and chance

brief echoes fade in empty chambers

the facile banners

contracted frame, annular conceit

specious infamy outstripped from within

fleeting auspices yield to hallowed repose

flirting glimpses marking a fertile hubris

shattered needs, rendered wants

all prey to the vulture within

stolen heat, squandered hope

all prey to the vulture within

how often a forced smile betrays some hidden wound