NO NEED.

You betrayed me she cried
The tears ran down her face, smeared mascara
Blurred her anguish, was her anguish
How could that be? She thought.

He looked away
Afraid to meet tearful eyes.
No words to answer her statement of fact
How could he refute her. He had.
He had loved her … but still betrayed her
He didn’t know why so he stayed silent.
Felt a tear himself. Felt his own pain. At hers.

He reached out his hand towards her
But stopped halfway. His hand dropped weakly
She saw his attempt through running eyes
An involuntary sigh as his hand withdrew
The cruelty of his indecision. His silence.
More painful than his lie
That he could not reach out for her now
So hard when once it had been so easy.

Yes crushed but she rose.
Some semblance of recovered pride
And turned her back on him.
Her lost lover. And in that moment. That gesture
She put him behind her. For now.

She stared at his week old gift of flowers.
Blues and yellows. Still bright and full of life
In her vase. His flowering inside her it seemed
A sob escaped her. She hadn’t meant to
And she heard the chair scrape behind her as he rose.

Still he said nothing. She wanted to feel those arms one last time
The way they encircled her waist from behind as she prepared food
Or applied make-up … But nothing
Just the sound of the door closing behind him
No good byes. Not really any need.

©2010 Stan Rogers

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