White, empty walls

Followed by

White, blank pages

A cold, vacant stare

Lights flickering

Unfortunately, she is home

A padlock on the door

Melt down the key

Into something

Pretty and useless

A necklace,

Gift it back to her

Irony

She, trapped inside

Tired of screaming

No one is coming

Black despondency ravages

From her interior

Leaving a ghost, a shell,

An apparition of what once was

Dark circles

Dark fantasies

She sees not black and white

Only shades of

Soot, ash, smoke

A fire

Burned out, extinguished

Life lies hidden

In the embers

Once uncovered, slowly

Going cold

Betrayal

Her autonomic nervous system

Forcing unwanted, unsolicited

Breath

In, out

Of lungs, detached

Resentment

Her traitorous heart, still

Beating, beating, beating

Where there once were

Desires

Now lies apathy

Incapable of finding words

Tired of

Disappointing

Frustrating

Wounding the wounded

Tired of

Truth

When sweetened lies are preferred

Unsure

How to proceed

Stay, go, stay, go

Staygo

Stego, noun

Greek origin

Meaning

Shelter, a thatched roof

Used to describe love

Love, they say,

Love is shelter

It protects, hopes,

It perseveres, endures

I am no longer stego

Though I love her still

This roof is leaking,

Thus,

She gets wet, cold, sick

This roof can no longer hold

Its own weight

It falls

I fall

My weight

Too heavy

Too much

My love

Not enough

I hurt her,

I hurt her

She always thought

She would hurt me

I hurt her

Because my love

Is not stego

Liken it not to a roof,

A shelter

Liken it to what hurts

Bruises, burns

Broken bones

Things that are feared

Heights, falling

Thunderstorms

Liken it to everything that makes you want to scream,

To run

To fight back,

Tooth and nail

Like your life depends on it

That is my love

Barbed wire, a thorn bush

40 feet high

Remarkable to witness

Unaware

That you’re trapped

Trying to leave

Hurts more

Than trying to stay

So she stays

I stay

Together

Trapped

A lovely garden

Fenced in by love