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Swallowed Pride

She shuts her eyes, an image comes

An image comes unbidden,

Pictures play inside her mind

Of things she's long kept hidden.

He shuts his eyes, no image comes

No visions plague his mind,

If our third eye true exists

Then his third eye is blind.

 

Memories haunt him every night

They swamp him in her bed,

This movie runs twice nightly in

The cinema of him head.

No memories haunt his sleep at night

No conscience ****** his sleep,

Any thoughts of shame or guilt

He's long since buried deep.

˜

Her fears are always lurking

By day they dog her stride,

The only thing that gets her through

A dwindling sense of pride.

A cheery laughing joker

A smile e'er in place,

Before this day is over

He'll wear a different face.

 

With weary step and tired mind

She walks a busy street,

Across a press of shoppers

His and her eyes meet.

Each one knows the other

She falls at last to grief,

Her innocence was stolen

Before her stands the thief.

 

A friend puts arms around her

Takes her home to weep,

A sobbing revelation of

The terrors of her sleep.

Guilt at last has found him

His very soul is smote,

Shame bites deep within him

Its bile burns his throat.

 

This night will be quite different

Two roles will be reversed,

Talk and tears will cleanse her

Remorse will leave him cursed.

˜

She shuts her eyes, no image comes

For once she's free of fears,

Tonight her sleep is peaceful

The first in six long years.

He shuts his eyes, an image comes

An image comes unbidden,

Guilt invades his sleeping mind

No more to be kept hidden.

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j
Written by
jacob-francis-mongoose
English
Published
Jan 14, 2010
Lines·Words
54·285
Permission

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