listen:
I have only myself to blame. And you of course, but you’re not here, are you? I walk alone with my thoughts and self-recriminations.
You fell in step with me and we walked a path, uncertain but less perilous because we were together. I believed we were equals.
I should not have listened.
My history, yes, I thought that sack of stones was behind me, sorted and catalogued, stripped of hurt.
I should have remembered.
A pat on the back, a smile, a confidence shared. Comrades, or so I thought. A friend’s blow unseen until the final moment, sharp blade sliding into exposed skin.
I should not have dropped my guard.
(A gasp, not a scream, because this cannot be happening.)
Ruby drops pump from my scandalised heart onto stony ground. No pain, just numbing cold as you step away, carelessly wiping my blood from your hands.
Now you seek a safer harbour. Take your traitorous smile and self-serving machinations, go where you will.
I am the strength that protected you, but in the end you gave me nothing but a wound.
Another scar. I walk on alone.
One day, I will learn.
