you were joy, broken joy,

shreds of it scattered.

and between your lines

lie chasms,

dark, endless, hopeless.

 

but you masked your chasms

by wringing out sunshine.

and thus,

they heard your joy.

bright, loud, warm.

 

you had us fooled

well, not all of us.

I sensed your emptiness,

heard the hollow shell that radiated laughter,

felt the ice of your timeless winter.

 

I approached it with

the innocence of a child

unsure how to rescue

an adult.

 

you told me you’d never hurt me

I made you promise to love yourself instead.

you did.

 

until you appeared in my driveway

with the knife

pressed to your arm,

cold and unforgiving against your skin.

 

and suddenly

the world,

so full of kindness and opportunity,

became harsh and grim.

 

that night your winter

became

mine too.

      

              -K.D.C.