I was with you today when I realized

I could never truly be happy.

Bliss is forever out of my reach.

It was perfect,

you and I,

alone together on a stroll through the park.

I read you Sylvia Plath and you told me you didn’t get it.

I told you it didn’t matter.

The sun was out still

and the wind healed my bug bites with a kiss.

You try to hug and smother me 

because you love me.

I tell you to stop.

I need your attention and care

to live with the Bell Jar over my head.

You can touch and pull on the glass

but it will not be removed so easily.

I write “hello”

in the condensation on the glass. 

The grass was soft under my feet 

and the water in the fountain is refreshing.

It drowns me as does the aroma

of the peonies.

It’s too much 

under my skin and nose.  

I want to leave

on this beautiful day.

I want to go home,

back to my Bell Jar.