How could you have done this to yourself?

All because of me?

I see your tears fall.

I see your sleepless nights,

Spent picturing my face.

You always said your heart

Beats just for me

But now each beat is hollow,

And your heartstrings stretch taut

As if they could break at any moment.

You even loved me so much

That you stayed when it happened.

You watched the light leave my eyes.

Now I’m doomed to watch the pain in yours.

If only you had walked away

That first time.

I would rather you’d never known me,

Than watch you go through this grief now.

~~~

Oh, my love,

Each day I see your face.

But it is not your unseeing gaze,

Nor your still, broken form,

That I picture.

I picture a sweet smile,

Hear a beautiful laugh,

Smell a certain flowered perfume,

That I could not imagine life without.

My tears are many,

And they are well spent.

What a worthy tithe,

In exchange for those precious days

That I hold to my heart like a salve,

Soothing the heartstrings that stretch,

That bend, but don’t break,

As my heart continues to beat.

Each beat is still for you.

Each beat is worth the pain.