UNFORTUNATE

UNFORTUNATE 

HOW UNFORTUNATE,

I CAST ASIDE MY FAITH IN YOU,

IN THE ECHO OF YOUR VOICE,

WORDS THAT ONCE RANG CLEAR AS BELLS,

A SUMMONS TO RETURN,

A KEY TO UNLOCK CHAINS I DIDN’T SEE.

YET HERE I STAND, UNMOORED,

DRIFTING ON A SEA OF DOUBT I BREWED MYSELF,

EACH WAVE A TESTAMENT TO MY UNBELIEF,

EACH RIPPLE A WHISPER OF REGRET.  

MY MOVEMENTS, SLOW AS DUSK,

THESE FOOTSTEPS, DELIBERATE AND HEAVY,

TRACE A PATH AWAY FROM YOU,

A SELF-IMPOSED EXILE, STEP BY GRADUAL STEP.

I’VE TORN THE ROOTS FROM SACRED GROUND,

EVICTED MYSELF FROM THE SHELTER OF YOUR GRACE,

AND YET, IN TRUTH, I CANNOT BLAME YOU WHOLLY—

FOR YOU HAVE ENDURED BEYOND MEASURE,

MORE THAN THREE STRIKES TO SHATTER TRUST,

MORE THAN NINE LIVES TO CLAW BACK HOPE.  

ANGER RISES LIKE A STORM,

A TEMPEST THAT BLINDS ME,

DRIVING WEDGES BETWEEN ME AND REASON,

BETWEEN ME AND THE QUIET OF RATIONALITY.

IT STRIPS AWAY THE VEIL OF REPRESSION,

LEAVING ME RAW, EXPOSED,

A PRISONER TO MY OWN TURMOIL.

I CANNOT HIDE FROM THE FURY I’VE NURTURED,

A BEAST THAT FEEDS ON SILENCE,

GROWLING IN THE SPACES WHERE UNDERSTANDING FADES.  

AND THERE YOU STAND BEFORE ME,

A FIGURE FRAMED IN FRAGILE LIGHT,

YOUR TEARS LIKE PRISMS, CATCHING SHADOWS,

EACH DROP A MIRROR HELD TO MY SOUL.

YOU SPEAK OF FOREVERS, UNWAVERING,

PLEDGES THAT HANG IN THE AIR LIKE SMOKE,

THICK WITH PROMISE, YET CHOKING WITH DOUBT.

I GAZE INTO YOUR EYES AND SEE MYSELF—

A REFLECTION DRENCHED IN GREY,

CLOUDED BY CATARACTS OF CONFUSION,

VEILED IN THE FOG OF DISBELIEF.  

THESE BABY-STEPS OF GOODBYE,

SO SMALL, YET MONUMENTAL,

EACH ONE A STONE LAID UPON A WALL,

A BARRIER RISING BETWEEN US,

BUILT WITH THE MORTAR OF MY HESITATION.

HOW UNFORTUNATE, THIS SLOW UNRAVELING,

THIS QUIET SEVERING OF TIES ONCE TIGHT,

FOR IN YOUR TEARS, I SEE NOT JUST YOU,

BUT THE FRACTURED PIECES OF WHAT I’VE LEFT BEHIND—

A HOME I CAN NO LONGER FIND,

A FREEDOM I CAN NO LONGER CLAIM.