Bare hands clench tight around thin stems.
One lonesome individual stood amidst a crowd of joyful fools.
His eyes are dry,
But for every tear that never fell was how much sweatier those hands became.
He sees them now,
Standing there with hands clasped.
They look so gleeful-
Especially the one person that he had been waiting to see-
Painfully wanting to watch before the end.
The original plan was to give the fresh flowers to that special individual,
But the ceremony was about to start.
So secretively,
The clenched hands replaced the bride’s ceremonial bouquet with a “meet me” note,
And the lilies no longer suffered by his shaking hands.
He waited in the meeting spot just enough out of view of the guests;
Mere minutes passed before she came
About the corner where they now stood face to face.
“You,” she exclaimed with the stars in her eyes and the dance of her lips,
“Why are you here?”
Simply, but cautiously did he approach.
“Life is too short to run from you,
Especially when I end up leaving my heart as a keepsake in your arms,
But no affection or light will nurture or end the current suffering.”
The bride held out her arms as a prisoner awaiting freedom,
And escaping from her lips came the tender whispers,
“Then steal me away as you stole my own heart so long ago!
They need not to understand if all we are is breaking without the other.
Take me and be free,
Hold my hand and feel my blood thrashing
And my breath weakened by your embrace!
This is what we want isn’t it? A chance to love and be loved?”
As a man in new clothes,
He willingly accepted the dainty hand that belonged to another,
Then waltzed past the crowds that seemed to mock him earlier that day.
Now they scream, “He’s stolen the bride!” “She must be drunk!” “I knew she was a whore!”
But with every word that came from their tongues, the poison that they gave,
Only brought the clasped hands bliss as they drove further and faster away.
She didn’t ask but she was born. Her parents fell in love
She didn’t ask to be a baby girl, though she became their entire world.
She didn’t ask to grow so quickly. She became a woman at around 18.
She didn’t ask to graduate with a high GPA, she studied hard for it.
She didn’t ask to put her love life on hold, she made her own choices.
She didn’t ask for the friends she loves, though she makes time for them.
She didn’t ask the man to follow her- and she didn’t know his name.
She didn’t ask the man to corner her or put a needle in her veins.
She didn’t ask him to drag her to his apartment and lock the door behind.
She didn’t ask for his stone cold kiss nor his hands up her thighs.
She didn’t ask to have her clothes stripped away from her reach.
She didn’t ask him to keep touching her in fact she blacked out immediately.
She didn’t ask to wake up in his bed with his fingers in her hair.
She didn’t ask for his further arousal- neither would she have let him.
She didn’t ask to lose her innocence, and she wanted to die.
She didn’t ask to be drugged once more and left in an ally.
She didn’t ask for the ambulance or the blood.
She didn’t ask the paramedic anything- she didn’t speak at all.
She didn’t ask the doctor about her damages, her pain inside needed more than bandages.
She didn’t ask her parents to worry nor did she hear them be sorry.
She didn’t ask for her parents to be angry at her carelessness.
She didn’t ask if they wanted the truth- but why waste her own breath?
She didn’t ask them for judgement. All she wanted was their love.
She didn’t ask her parents to disown her and reject her from their hearts.
She didn’t ask most of her friends to abandon her after what”she’d done”.
She didn’t ask to run from men in fear after what one had done.
She didn’t ask in the coming months to become pregnant.
She didn’t ask what her options were while knowing she hadn’t planned this.
She didn’t ask for an abortion because she needed someone to love her.
She didn’t ask for help to be given and she didn’t need anyone.
She also didn’t ask her longtime friend to promise his love to her.
She didn’t ask if he wanted her for the baby or for her alone.
She didn’t ask him to sacrifice his life and join her’s of discomfort.
She didn’t ask him if he would ever hurt her because he made a promise.
She didn’t ask as they moved together into the same house.
She didn’t ask for her best friend to be the one who makes her feel like a person again.
She didn’t ask herself if this is or isn’t what she wanted.
She didn’t ask to have a baby girl to hold and name.
She didn’t have to ask her new husband to love this baby like she is his own.
She didn’t ask for a happy beginning to an awful situation.
But this woman’s story is happier than most.
She could’ve killed herself, if she hadn’t already been left to die.
The man could have killed her, but like many she was left alive.
She didn’t have to keep the baby and love it as her own.
This woman may be a victim, but her choices are still her own.
She didn’t ask for one man to ruin her- no one asks for it.
So why is it okay to punish her further by judging her character after a tragedy?
Knock Knock? She answered the door with a smile on her face. “Come in and sit”, she offered kindly.
What a sweet woman with warm loving arms, to allow me to come in to her home-
At least that’s what anyone would think right?
She asked, “What is wrong with you, you must be sad?”
I didn’t have a clue what she meant, this was a phase of my life where I was calm and content.
But she egged me on about how I am somehow broken.
I smiled with a “No, I think I am good. Thank you for asking.”
She drew in a breath and rolled her eyes. She left to another room and didn’t allow me to leave or say goodbye.
So I waited and listened to the melody of her songs played.
This woman was so nice at first, so why on earth would she accused me of faking?
I thought over my life frontwards and backwards, I prayed to God and asked for the answer.
Maybe I was missing something that only I didn’t see.
Why hadn’t anyone mentioned this before? Is something wrong with me?
So I finally left her home with a curtsy and a wave. I noticed her smile was short,
Her eyes appeared to miss their lively gleam.
What was she thinking? Is all this really because she is worried for me?
All of these thoughts actually messed me up. The twisted emotions that I didn’t know about began to show up.
I bottled them away unsure of what others would say. With teary eyes I appeared at her doorstep.
Knock Knock “What is it?” She screamed.
Terror clothed my mind. Shock brought me down to my knees.
I told her my tale, but the woman I had before me was angry and mean.
She huffed and smirked when I said I had been wrong.
The love she appeared to have seemed like it was gone.
What more could she do to make me hurt? She shut the door in my face and revoked her help.
I quivered and shook unsure of my rage.
Hardly had I began to walk away, when another girl walked to that very door
And the woman opened it with a smile on her face
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