They called me before they put it on the news
The phone rang three times
It was two in the morning
I answered with
"Who the **** is this?"
The the answer that came back to me
Was something I would have never dreamed
Though they came to our house several times that week
And wrote on their yellow legal pads
Even when they took you to the station for questioning
I still thought
"No, not my wife."

It was the police
Calling to say that after hours of interrogation
You'd confessed.

My darling, my dear,
I ask you not as an enemy
But as a friend-
How could you?

Did bullets leaving a gun sound too much like
The blood pushing through your veins?
Did you look at them and see not humans
But colours and noises and air?
Was the allure
Of taking a mortal and carving their veins into shreds
Too much for you to control?
Was there some violence in your past that you had to avenge
On all the humans you could reach?
Please, my darling, my dear,
How could you?

On our wedding day
When your dress tore and we fought
Did that contaminate your love?
When you took a exacto-knife
And carved a bird onto the boys skin
Did you think that perhaps the bird was you?
Did you fly? Do you regret it?
Do you regret me?
My darling, my dear,
How could you?

I think perhaps you were Mary
And gifted with a child
But you saw it, weaker than you
And burnt it alive.
Was the pain of knowing
That you could
Greater than morality
Of if you should?
My darling, my dear,
How could you?

Did it get harder
Every single day
Like drops falling into a cup
Till it overflowed with words and feelings unsaid
Rage and anger unchecked
And things that you were not allowed to touch
Except with blood on your hands?

My darling, my dear
If you have an answer
Please, tell me!

How could you?