Dawn

I fear your dawn is different than mine.
Eyes wide open, pupils retract.
Flooding with light in the middle of the night.
When black is so deep that your hands force to feel.
Metal..steel.

Cold. Hard. Truth.

An awakening...toes guiding steps...
You embark. Daybreak after dark.
Forcing yourself to inhale for the first time.

Together we gasped.

And, with a roar we threw our backs out
tossing off the demons that ride.
Together we cried.

Wine and song and I said "nobody will understand."
You said "stay strong."
An insurmountable task at night.
An exhausting victory in the light.
And we'd fight.
Sisters chasing the same right.
I'd love you with all that I had. I always will.. I'll rewind.
Turn back the racing time.
Erase the wasted rhyme.

Yet I fear your dawn is different than mine.

Truth in waves of sound.
I could see how it would be overwhelming.
Crashing in on you, with relentless appeal.
Voices. Music. Static.
This joy will erase the pain
Love in black and white
Love in wrong and right.
Pushing through the night.
Night precedes the light.

We're both right.
Fight the fight.
Count the time.

But, I fear your fight is different than mine.

You said you didn't believe.
You said you would try to prove it.
Pull from your heart, cut the strings, detangle, wrangle...
Twine tied up in layers of doubt, thrashing about.
It's not too late, love.

I didn't blame you. I never would.
I didn't shame you. I never could.
Natural affection, just misdirection.
Standing the test of time and rejection.

I didn't think you'd be gone.
I never worried you'd be a pawn.
A small piece in his game of right...and wrong.
It's always darkest before the dawn.
But, where do you draw the line?

I fear your dawn is different than mine.