Nearing night, lovelorn evening sky blushes, turns crimson.
Her face, brushing his, trembles with uncontrollable passion.
The sea, clearly is impatient, descending sun so expectant.
Her lips inches closer, his passionate heart is ebullient.
The heaving burden of night, weighs gently upon earth,
The sands of the beach, give way to her lithe body's weight.
Together they savor the wonder, that single moment brings.

He stole every piece of me
And now I am his.
Living in this fear and anger
Of the man who stole my innocence.
He throws around pieces of me
As if I'm his to give away.

He tells others how I cried
When i begged him to let me go.
He laughed at the way I squirmed
To get away from his reach.

I'm forced to relive
Every second of that night.
Scenes flash through my head
Like a picture show.

The hard kiss.
His hand up my dress.
The smirk on his face.
His forearm on my neck.
Him inside me.
The look in his eyes.

Everything comes back
When I see his face.
I lose my breath
A cold sweat drenches me.
Numbness covers my body.

I can't breathe.
I'm drowning in my own insecurities.
But I need to be strong.  
I have to go on.
I can't let the Thief have the rest of me.

Headphones in
On your mark, get set, go.
Time to really look at your surroundings
and forget that you exist for just a moment...

I scoop up the last armful of clothes from my drawer,
Look at my uncle sitting at my computer
my eyes screaming,"I'm done, that's it"
he nods his head, listening to my aunt on the other end of the phone
and playing with the settings of the security camera dad bought to spy on us.
I carry them into the hallway,
kick grandmas already half open door
drop them on the bed
and sort them out;
a pair of pants,
I lift the shirts from the Mexican midnight takeout box
insert the pants,
put the shirts back down
add another pile of shirts
and fit the socks and underwear along the side.
this is the third box
and it's done.
three boxes, a clothes basket, a backpack and a computer
and I feel like a hoarder, like I have far more than I need.

as I turn around I feel him wrap his arms around my neck
and ease his tear filled eyes onto my shoulder.
"I love you, Bubba"
he says, in a voice deeper than it should be
"I can deal with him,
but living without either of my brothers scares me"
I start crying, I can't hold back the tears
all the pain and suffering of eighteen long years
finally **** near over
and I almost start grabbing clothes and stuffing them back into the drawers.
I almost say
"I can wait six years for a life"
but I look into his eyes
and see that he's telling me not to stay
that his heart will be torn up
but he can make it through
he always has.
twelve years old and the strongest person I know.

we stand there embraced for a quarter hour
crying until we have no more tears
until we have let out all the anger and fear of the last nine years.

we stumble into the dark hallway
eyes red, swollen, and damp.
Nobody asks any questions
and we continue on with our day,
my entire life piled up on the far side of grandma's bed

I promise to be kind every day that follows today,
I promise to stay by your side no matter what happens,
I promise to take you to dance every friday night,
I promise to sing the songs I wrote for you,
I promise I'll do anything to make you stay,
I promise to give you all the love you need,
I promise that you'll always be able to cry on my shoulder,
I promise to fall asleep in your arms,
I promise to kiss your cheek, your nose and your neck,
I promise to warm you up if your cold,
I promise to kiss you in your sleep,
I promise to make you smile all day, every day
I promise to kiss you under the rain,
I promise to write poems about how much I care for you,
I promise to travel everywhere with you by my side,
I promise to slowly carress your cheek,
I promise to bring you to the top of the Eiffel tower,
I promise to share everything I own,
I promise to tell you you're beautiful every day,
I promise to hold you in my arms and close my eyes,
I promise to make you laugh if you're feeling low,
I promise to believe in our love,
I promise to fight for it,
I promise I'll be the best girlfriend you've ever had,

I promise you happiness for the rest of your life.

Would you stop for a minute
and lie down by my side,
look up at the stars with me
beneath this blue night sky?

Would you tell me your story
your secrets and your fears
and trust me to keep them safely
as we peel away the layers?

Would you take me as I am
hurts and tears and all?
and seal each scar with a kiss
help me stand up when I fall?

Hold my hand and walk with me
I’ll stay forever by your side
hold you when you stumble
lean on you when I’m tired.

- Vijayalakshmi Harish
   13.12.2012

Copyright © Vijayalakshmi Harish