I’m lost in the shuffle in a deck of cards.

A rotating, good-for-nothing image 

circling aimlessly and endlessly in the pack

of the masses

And clad in a patterned cloak a-

round my neck, with smoothed-out edges 

cut to fit the stack.

I carefully curated my crowned queen

With curly Q corners and hungry hearts

galore, seeking to be adored and seen,

but scared to be pursued when love first starts.

In trying to look like

the rest of the cards in the deck 

I got lost in the shuffle between plays.

This game called love

requires truth at best —

Authenticity 

in all of our ways.

By returning to who I was before the game,

I hope I can learn to love myself again 

Within my own heart this time — 

not on the outskirts

of a lonely queen of hearts

lost in the shuffle in a deck of cards.