A Stranger Has Checked Into Your Soul

I miss you when you’re here

Your body’s home

But you’re nowhere near

Familiar toes peek out

from under your sheets

But I don’t know the man

who moves your feet

I search pale eyes

for signs of you

But they offer no relief

Your natural calm

has turned to tortured grief

A stranger has checked into your soul

and uses your body like a VRBO

He doesn’t clean up

And he doesn’t care

Or brush your teeth

or comb your hair

He fills your mouth with

words you’d never say

Pulls down the curtains on your eyes

and sometimes sleeps all day

Or he turns up your lights,

too bright

And jerks your body like a marionette

all night

He throws on your mismatched clothes

some dirty socks and shoes with holes

He waits too long to empty the trash

Content to sleep near a putrid stash

I miss you when you’re here

Your thoughtful voice

often turns to sneers

Talented hands

fall to an idle side or

become accessories

to an unhinged stride

your body has been hijacked by a man

whose given up on all life’s plans

A stranger has checked into your soul

and uses your body like a VRBO

He doesn’t clean up

and he doesn’t care

Or brush your teeth

or comb your hair

He fills your mouth with

Words you’d never say

Pulls down the curtains on your eyes

and sometimes sleeps all day

Or turns up your lights

Too bright

And jerks your body like a marionette

all night

He throws on your mismatched clothes

some dirty socks and shoes with holes

He waits too long to empty the trash

Content to sleep near a putrid stash

I hope someday

you come back home

Kick this wicked usurper

off your coveted throne

Take back your hands

your eyes

your toes

your words

your teeth

your voice

and clothes.

My heart is broken in all the wrong places

Please, return your soul to his rightful spaces.