So, I Once Believed

25 Jan 2000

“Because I love him.”
I hear these pathetic beings
weeping over victim-laid scripts
that bear their lives 
in ugly little details.
Yet, they persist
in their self-destructive goals,
claiming that love forgives all
and allows anything.
So, I once believed.

She trembles, this girl,
stunned by heartless revelations
that lay waste to her future
and mock the years that she has given.
Yet, does she turn away,
allowing the betrayal to teach her
the tones and cadences to good-bye?
No, shamefully, she hangs her head;
defeated, she accepts his return;
defiantly, she defends his actions.
She feels she deserves no better.
So, I once believed.

When hand reaches out,
and life returns naught but anguish,
it is far easier to hide behind
tactics of aloof indifference.
Far better, one thinks,
than risking the pain.
So, I once believed.


© 2000, Tara Tambolleo