POETRY
For the attention of my future self
by Brian Hugenbruch in Issue Twelve, December 2023
While you are me, and I am almost you,
I cannot help but think you spin me lies.
I do not think that what we say is true.
Your letter's from our future—and we rise
to conquer bloody challenges ahead—
though you are me, and I am almost you.
I find it less than clear, sir, that we prize
a similar result, from all you've said:
I do not think that what we say is true.
No—one's more apt to argue you despise
the shadow of a past you thought was dead—
because you're me, and I am almost you.
If one of us will live, then I surmise
your end is mine, someday. Am I misled?
I do not think that what we say is true!
I cannot show us mercy; the surprise
of knives must sever both our threads…
for you were me, but I’m becoming you.
(I do not think that what we said was true.)
© 2023 Brian Hugenbruch
Brian Hugenbruch
Brian Hugenbruch is a speculative fiction author and poet living in Upstate NY with his wife and their daughter (and some unruly pets). By day, he writes information security programs to protect your data on (and from) the internet. His poetry has also appeared in Eye to the Telescope, Penumbric Spec, Liquid Imagination, and Apparition Lit. You can find him on Twitter @Bwhugen, on Instagram @the_lettersea, and at the-lettersea.com. No, he’s not sure how to say his last name, either.