By: Linda M. Crate

you burned my dreams to ashes
there was no need
for such vicious carnage for
a self-destruction that would
take us both down in
flames,
and i do wonder sometimes if you
said you loved me only
to make me stay
because you knew i was a bird
it was in my nature to fly
away;
but you were a wolf and you would
have your fill beneath the claws
of your fury
before you’d set me
free to a freedom that felt more like
anguish—
you told me that you cared but that’s
simply not true
for you do not destroy the people
you care about,
and ignore their pain with condemnation
arrogance and cruelty;
i wanted
an apology for all the pain you ripped anew in
me with all of your lies and insincerity,
but that you would not give me
for a long time i hated you,
but it was a poison that was eating me away
inside;
and so i let God heal me
He helped me forgive the unforgivable,
but i will never you trust or need you again—
you are a door He closed for
my protection,
and i’m so very thankful i’ll never feel
the whisper of your name
beneath my heart
again.