Arm's Length

photo by Leo Reynolds

on a winter's night

my eyes met hers and I recognized
in the mirror

The iron backbone
The guarded words
The arm's length

The just-one-more-day, Lord
...and tomorrow, again

When those you have laughed with
and cried with
and loved
and trusted
and let in the door

turn on you with all the serpent's venom
    (truly, it's NOT theirs...)

it is hard to open the door again
once you feel you have finally
got it
shut
of them.

"To love is to be vulnerable" - CS Lewis