Merited Trepidation
By Emilee Petersmark

.

.

Don't apologize--
This one's on me.
My eyes were open
When I jumped off the edge.
We flew, we failed, we fell;
And now that we're here
I'm terrified.

I tried to wrap myself
Around your unyeilding heart,
Erode away the part of you
That couldn't love me.
But instead you chilled me
And I froze to death,
Seduced me with your touch
Then turned me to stone.

Each of your kisses burns
Like a brand, a bruise,
An unfading scar.
Now every time it rains
I hope to drown;
It's better than drowning
In the absence of
three
little
words.

The mystery's finished,
The story's done--
It was me the whole time
With the knife in the dark.
I took you by the hand
And brought you with me,
And now that we're here
I'm terrified.