TORTURE

 TORTURE

"Baby, my heart’s unraveling slow,"

Six words that vanish in the undertow.

"I’ll cradle you through every storm,"

Five words you’ll never let be born.

Oh—

I force a grin through splintered light,

Four days drag like a starless night.

If three’s a clamor and two was our spark,

One slipped into the swallowing dark.  I’d weave you a sunrise to soothe your soul’s ache,

But your gaze drifts to some distant lake.

I’m anchored here, though my spirit’s worn thin,

Dreaming you’d love where my heart can’t begin.  Is there a thread still tying us tight?

A map to guide you through your private night?

Our words drown in a sapphire haze,

Eleven "heys" (hey, hey, hey, hey),

Ten fingers claw through my tangled despair,

Nine moments you left me grasping at air.

I sat with my meal at seven, shadows my guest,

While you lingered six streets away, at best.  Oh—  How do I carve you a haven from pain,

When you turn and chase a far-off refrain?

I can’t confess how I yearn to break free,

Wishing your heart sought a different sea.  To guard my pride from the jagged reef,

To cloak your distance in a kinder belief.

Don’t say I’m not the fire you’d choose,

Just whisper I’m not the tide you’d cruise.

I’m selfish, clutching at embers that stray,

But you leave me adrift in a helpless sway.

I can’t bear another dawn’s cruel delay,

Another dawn’s cruel delay.  I’d weave you a sunrise to soothe your soul’s ache,

But your gaze drifts to some distant lake.

Mmm—

I can’t confess how I yearn to break free,

Wishing your heart sought a different sea.