At last the feud has come to end
Mary fought no more
With the man that she hated so
Ten years, at last, resolved

The man had left a gift even
A token of their peace
Mary found it on her doorstep
Although it wasn't as it seemed

She smiled but did not see
The error of the gift
If only she had thought some more
Or had not been so naive

The gift was flowers, lovely and bright
She brought them in and set them
They were such a gorgeous sight
And the meaning of truce gave depth

Finally, suspicion set in
She began to disbelieve
That someone so cruel for so long
Would bestow a treasure to please

Mary would trash the flowers
She decided with a sigh
It was simply too good to be true
This man hated her too much to resolve so quickly

Mary lifted them, held them o'er the fire
The woodstove groaned
The flames lapped
But she stopped short

They were wonderful
What harm were they really?
Mary concluded
Her suspicion was silly

So back on the table the flowers
Were set to be admired and worshipped
If only she'd burned them
If only she knew

For if Mary had scorched them
Perhaps her heart would still be together
She decided to look in them
Because she saw a faint glimmer

It was a letter
Embossed in gold glitter
She really knew better
Still she moved forward

As she opened the seal
And read the contents within
Mary regretted
Everything she had chosen

The letter was full with the harshest of words
Such evil disguised in such a treasure
How could she be so gullible, so stupid
Her heart and mind ached beyond measure

Mary finished her read
Let it fall on the floor
Put her hands on her face
And cried as she sunk

She had been fooled
By the promise of valuables
So blind by her hopes
That the bad seemed impossible
Was love not a valuable?

From that day she learned
That you must guard your heart
And don't trust a person
Who decieved from the start