Poem 7

Noose
Cut Loose

A true story, a la poem

Walking along Grace Street
Feeling used up and alone,
Caught a glimpse of happy
An innocence I'd once known.

He smiled from ear to ear,
Silly noose around his neck.
I should have read the signs,
But I was a total wreck.

Measures I had taken
To start my life anew.
Moth leaving his cocoon
Restraints for him were few.

I'd been open-minded
Willing to try new things
Until I'd had enough of
Experiential stings.

I tried to warn him not
To go so far so fast.
His guardian, I followed,
Fell deeper than my past,

Near to lend a saving hand,
Far enough to keep my ground.
Careless and rebellious,
He had lost what I had found.

He held a knife to his throat.
I placed a kitten on his shoulder,
I pleaded love's sweet case,
Lit up the eye of the beholder.

Always living on the edge,
He ignored my basic needs;
Ogling female druggie cohorts,
Steeling cards and other misdeeds,

Overstepped my generous line.
Took five long years to be healed
Of my own color-blindness
That kept the red flags concealed.

Having believed in him in hopes
Of instilling some belief in
His worth, living, loving,
I longed to restore his playful grin.

But nothing that I ever did
Brought him any happiness,
And I lost mine in the process.
Put in my all with no success.

Had enough, I parted ways,
Briefly I crash dived.
Years have passed, by God's grace
We're both alive; I survived.