woodandhoney

 

I once knew a man who was young and strong

And the arrogance on his face was painted by the confidence he would never forsake

And the innocence on my face was painted by the uncertainty I could never shake

And he taught me everything

And he gave me everything

I learned all the things he wanted to teach

I learned how to love a man out of reach

Five years melt like fresh fallen snow

Five years pass like fruit ripens old

He grew his anger fat feeding it truths

He grew it like a rat gorging in secret seclude

The wheel was turning; he couldn’t stop changing into more of the same

The wheel was turning; I couldn’t stop growing into what I became

And he couldn’t seem to hold up when he saw my new skin

And he couldn’t seem to hold on when he thought of that win

I met a man faltering and lost

I met a man weeping and tossed

He raved and he ranted

He shook and he shouted

He wanted everything

He needed everything

I whispered what of the children, what of your wife?

I asked what of this life?

I’ve earned this, he claimed

I’ve earned you, he exclaimed

So with a scalpel in hand, I cried

Please, you know I would give liver or bone

So with a scalpel in hand, I said low,

this heart’s turning to stone

It’s not enough! he accused

It’s not nearly enough,

but it’ll have to do!

So he feasted and chewed

on the marrow and bones,

So he gnawed and broke through

the pillars of what I once knew

I warned him my blood had turned cold

I warned him my blood had stayed blue

But he insisted he chew

Till he choked and he spit

Till his teeth turned to splints on a heart hardened quick

Like a snake shedding fast

I laid alone in the grass and

I asked the night crow for a verdict that’s true

I asked, am I guilty of killing a man,

the murder of someone strong I once knew?  Or was it only the death of an image untrue?

Tagged: poem