Don’t think I was meddling because I
Saw more than the others. Everything about
You seemed transparent really, and each part
You thought was hidden appeared to me as
A book longing to be thumbed through-

What was I to do?

If you truly believed you were
Hiding your heart ~ you weren’t.
I didn’t purpose to see more than I had,
– Or make mention of it – but when the portal
Opened and light fell on a heart held captive; I was
Touched in a place normally reserved for weddings
Or baby showers. Of course, then, after you realized
How clearly I saw what you thought was hidden; you
Groaned and turned away from me. Trying to cram
Your heart back into a box; you asked me to keep
The secret and not say a word to anyone-

What was this place you had
Fashioned from your TRAGEDIES?

Musty chambers blemished from too many failures;
An unattended bedchamber replete
With bouquets of wilted flowers;
Frayed carpeting;
Curled wallpaper;
Cups brimming over
With anguished tears;
Letters of love, addressed
TO YOU, (written by your own hand)
Crumpled in tight balls and dispersed
Throughout the room. Downhearted; I
Knew this ewer called YOU was in need
Of an understanding soul

Asking if I could come
Closer to see better; you
Softened and showed me
A headstone where I might
Enter into your secret places.
From trembling eyes cleansing
Tears flowed, – an ablutionary ritual –
Each drop plunging into the hidden berths
Of skeletons long held in contempt. You shook
Abandoned as sorrow poured from your reddened eyes.
Misunderstandings, like rivers, surged past rocks and
Fallen trees; emotional barrens once bursting ripe
With the fetor of unfulfilled yearnings dissolved
Under the disembogue of an honest
Emotional climax-

Afterwards … reaching out with strong hands;
I tenderly bosomed the emptiness that remained,
And then pulled you into the fortress of my heart