Dan Brady

There Is an Enemy in Love

There is an enemy in Love.
You know what I mean?

The fear of it, it
comes on like a wave.

To be understood
could be a terrible thing.

There is death in Love
You know what I mean?

The shame of it all,
laid bare.

To see me break, like a wave,
and the welling undertow.

Better to be safe. Better to be
separate and alone

‘cause then I could sleep all night.
You know what I mean?

Without anyone ever
pressing against me.

Without breath, nearly inaudible,
reminding me that death is in room.

Yes, there is an enemy in Love
and I will not face it.

‘cause I am afraid of what I am.
You know what I mean?

---

Poem's Score: -4.52878688525, you know what I mean?

Dan Brady is the poetry editor of Barrelhouse. His poetry has appeared in Artifice, Big Lucks, BlazeVox, Gargoyle, H_NGM_N, Shampoo, and elsewhere. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

JULY GENIUS

For July 2013, Everyday Genius is pleased to present poems that were rated below 0.4 on the "Poetry Assessor"—a tool that "is designed to determine whether a poem has the characteristics of a professional poem, or, alternatively, an amateur poem.

We publish the poems here, with their scores, not to confirm the Assessor's judgment, but to allow human readers to decide for themselves.