By: Kimberly Potter Kendrick

Making unsolicited comments
Gentle reminder of poor choices
Leaving impact, unsuspecting women
Prideful, unable to admit mistakes
Costly it was, money cast away

Chance after a chance she gave
Telling herself no more
Papers gained meaning
Lied before he had

Accidentally she saw
Left open his account, undeniably in front of her eyes
How could she not look
Woman after woman their secret conversations glared

As she read, apparent that each believed she was the one
He was a player as they say
Realization he fooled them
She knew too well, once she was them

She questioned her judgement
Tangled into the carefully crafted web
Committed herself, a decade wasted
Separated, in disbelief of his identity
Vows taken years ago
The devil repeatedly given chances
Ignorant she was
Under his charismatic spell

Cultures clashed
Childhood dissimilar to hers
Excuse, arrogance, naïveté
Regardless, perfection of trapping victims

Money often requested
To her detriment early on she agreed
Learning the hard lesson, borrowing meant giving in his world
She lost count as the loans piled up
No paying back, not a dollar or dime

Although husband and wife they would be no more
Filled with sorrow for those that followed
Filled with sorrow for this unconscionable man
No other lifestyle knew he

Grieving the past, what could have been
A chameleon was he
Countless masks
No more could she look away
Confirmation of her hypothesis
Hesitation despite proof
Regardless of difficulty, turn away she must
Communication terminated
Another statistic