You, the magnificent oak with arms outstretched Embracing me Holding me with your power and strength Always protecting me from those who would harm Yet this encompassing love is marginalizing and isolating Keeping me from those I love You left your splinters where I cannot remove them They lie there under skin Clearly visible yet irritating and inflaming Your mark left on me for all to see Slowly poisoning my bloodstream Until I am jaded and listless Sapped of my strength Taking this splintered love to the death
Exhausted from treading the uneven ground that is you I step back into black shadows Craving anonymity and peace Fatigued from sparring and exchanging elevated vocabulary Scratching and clawing at the remnants of our life An escape merely a detour Wishing for better fortune Avoiding more conflict Yet ultimately surrendering to the unseen enemy For love is a battlefield
Like a flower kept from the sun Or an animal trapped in a cage Her growth was stunted No longer remembering how she got to this place Her razor edge, now blunted
Isolated from those who cared most Living in the well of loneliness Slowly and surely marginalized Her passion for excitement lost Becoming redundant in life Existing but completely demoralized
Does the marriage end when all respect for the other is gone When selfishness rules kindness forgotten The battle is never won
Where did this all begin Forgetting there are two in a marriage, not one One gives, the other takes and takes and takes more When all is said and done
Taking care of you every day not that you ever notice Always too quick to deny Too absorbed with yourself to see what I might need There is no good in goodbye
When the love has gone There is no point in staying Our opinions differ too much on this contentious matter No one is listening anymore Using the other as a crutch
