Smoking cigarettes and listening to vinyl
That was our routine
It may not seem like much
But it was everything to me

Dreaming of a day
Not so far away
Where I would share your name
It may not seem like much
But it was everything to me

Holding you while sleeping
Nursing you through bad dreams
Waking in the morning to eye lid kisses and happy smiles
That was our routine
It may not seem like much
But it was everything to me

You up making coffee
As I slept in our cozy nest
Walking to your car as you left for work 
Whispering I love you
Kisses on my forehead
It may not seem like much
But it was everything to me

Looking up at stars so bright
That night outside the cabin
Cold to the bones
Looking for the big dipper
Black sky moonlight
It may not seem like much
But it meant everything to me
​
The time I got with you
Waking up to something new
Loving you with all I had
It may not seem like much
But it was everything to me.

5 words and no explanation.
No closure.
No way to respond.
5 words and you're gone.
Was that all she meant to you? 
Was that all she was worth? 
5 words and then you walk?
All the promises,
All the plans,
All the late nights,
The music that held you in its sway
20plus years and a knock on the door
And 5 words tore it apart.
5 words broke her will
Broke her resolve
Called into question everything she thought she believed.
5 words
Just 5 words and a betrayal
Without even a kiss on the cheek.
Enjoy your pieces of silver
​As you dangle from your tree.

The chosen left without warning
She still on her knees in the temple
Offering, bargaining anything she could recall
for one last grasp of his hem, 
one touch of his sandal. 
Wrapped in sacred clothes, 
he would glance at her from the side
yet, she hung on every word. 
What came from his mouth was gospel
and one touch could change her world.

The chosen left without warning
as she wailed and tears flowed.
She, left behind in the temple
​surrounded by scraps of what wasn't but could have been. 

You swore an aversion to being controlled
Yet, here you are, salting the bountiful to sow among weeds
And for what? 
Because you were told you would burn? 
Or was it because you lack the conviction to actually choose the narrow path? 
It is easier to be led by the collar
than to break the chains you've now welded.
To turn your face from the warmth of the sun to nest in a cavern of dank despair. 
Blessed be the man who runs from his own happiness
for he shall inherit the crown of the martyr
and drink from the bitter sponge of self righteousness. 

How does it feel?
Now that you know you’ve broken her.
Now that you e taken her down to the base
Now that you’ve ripped her stability and made her question her very sanity?
How does it feel?
Now that you’ve given her no reason or rhyme
Now that you’ve taken her future 
And made her question her past
Made her question her decision to trust
Made her question her worth
How does it feel? 
Are you powerful now? 
Are you fulfilled?
Are you happy now that you’ve left her in utter confusion and pain? 

Fair is not a word that can often be used in matters of the heart
In this case there is simply no application
Blindsided
Forsaken
Obliterated
​Unanswered
Those words fit
Those words tell the tale of your abrupt departure
And what was left in its wake
Those words tell of what it is like to be thrown away like so much trash
After giving all I had and leaving nothing behind.

Unforeseen
A bolt shot through the gloom
Transfigured my soul
Ignited a blaze
Searing unbounded
I am consumed
Submerged
Pulled by the tide
Going under --- swallowed whole
Prepared to exhale
​Welcoming absolution

He came here every day.

That secluded park where friendship blossomed into something else.

That lonely pew where fidelity was pledged.

He held his memories as sacred treasure

Under the spectral moonlight.

The landscape now as parched as is vitality

This would be his last call.

They'd shared their final libation.

He committed the cruet to the ground as a manifestation of what was.

A legacy of days passed.

Silently, he shuffled up the trail

With hopes to join her again.

Eyes closed, focused on the road untraveled.