he was
special for me
he meant so much
to me

i assumed that
serrated wrists
might be very repugnant
to him

so,
i never let them show

one day,
he did indeed see
his face showed
signs of raw emotion

he did not see
the slashed wrists
or the drawn lines
he saw deeper

he saw the intentions
behind those straight lines
(maybe they were jagged)
and the kindness
that reeked of his heart
ached to help

or maybe it was pity at the time.

believe in yourself is
what he said
but his words seemed
like a deep dead end

he said
that those marks
did not define i was
or who i am today

it was
a mark of the past
a memory aching to be forgotten
battle scars.

he urged
me to let go
but that doesn't seem easy as it sounds

later he left
and the story remains
just another boy
i had loved and lost

pain still lives
just as it once did
except it had all just
been on my mind

(b.d.s.)