i hope my words are strange and wondrous,

like kisses that quiet all things superfluous,

so that we can all stop and

listen

that in giving words of wisdom i have remarkably glazed

over

a blind spot in my folly.

that in compartmentalizing,

i played you and played you hard.

taking your heart and tossing it into dust,

hammering it with self-assured good intentions

and the habitual tendencies of a robot.

i wonder now what you thought and felt,

in those in-between days, stuck in making the best of

and knowing it was nearing the end.

or maybe i have super-imposed this apocalyptic awareness onto a situation in which

you and me

were blundering like mere fools.

blameless for lack of knowledge.

ignorance the only defense.

i would take it all back if i could,

knowing now what i didn't then.

i should have been stronger,

and that is really the cruelest thing.

that my attempts to be the strong one were futile,

and regardless of circumstance,

there was hurt anyway.