it was so long ago
you tore me apart. the rape
that left me hollow, the words
which slowly peeled my skin
from bone. it is time to
close the wound.

i knew you. you spoke
words of love to my wanton
ears, the severed trust
that left me when you spoke
of my betrayal, one that only
lived within your mind. abandoned
you were, like a flower in a flood.

i was not the water. i was
not the raging storm. i did
not leave your childself.
you did not rape the one
who betrayed you. i was the salve.  

i only wanted to
close the wound.  

Deborah Haggerty© 2007