when you opened up and let me in
displaying your true spirit,
exposing your vulnerability
I, simply saw an opportunity
to score unanswered points
to prove my illusion,
justify my demeanor,
and declare hollow victory

days and weeks have turned
to color draining years now
but the story never changes…
you have to push me away
to maintain your sanity
and not be whirlpooled
to the bottom of my sea
of diffidence and demons

and the wound never heals,
frozen in time and crushed
like a trophied rose in wax paper
between the pages of an album
of self-edited memories
turning your once crimson heart
into a brown, brittle corpse
collecting dust on a shelf

Salisbury, North Carolina  2015