Does anything make you feel guilty?
Such as memories that drift in and out of your mind
or perhaps, the sinful taste of chocolate.
What about when you reach up to touch,
the marble steps where your pride once walked.  

She thought you knew her heart was breaking
still she would be waiting for you
with purple ink seeping from her pores.  
Did you know then
how such a narrow field of silence
would have her tripping
over her own bittersweet lines?

She watched you read those pages repeatedly
smiling like you received a medal of honor;
then lean forward with nothing to say at all.  
Did you ever consider
the rose-colored glasses she wore.  

She knows that you have never pretended
to be anything other than what you are
still she  finds you taste like the purest water.  
If you listen carefully,
you can hear her calling  out
for another drink of you.

In the meantime, you leaned forward
to stroke her hair
without ever turning on the light.  
While the world wished,
it could too.