I take
her hand
trembling.

tide is going
out.

all the

secrets
of her

marriage
will be
no longer
hidden.

safe in
harbor
shores.

her life
exposed
to the
pain

the sorrow,
the love

will be

like broken

seashells

thrown upon

this beach.

lost.

never to

be put

back together

again.

her
beauty
still
at hand.

like rose
pedals

without

the sunlight

to guide

them,

she knows
not where
to begin.

lovers from
her past
scurry
about her
thoughts,


like wild
dogs
looking
for scraps
of red

tender

meat.

but she
will have
none of it.

because she

knows  it
is time,

to begin
her new

life without
him.