Silken Curtains

Originally posted September 14, 2023 (encore with audio)

Silken curtains
 are meant to hide 
the violent 
goings-on inside,
the nightly battle 
when windows rattle 
and iron wills collide.

Bruises mark
the ivory skin, 
deep and dark 
as a wine-red rose, 
and linen wipes 
a purpled chin 
as blood runs down 
the broken nose.

They’d eat each other 
if they could 
and throw away 
the bones 
or bury them 
out in the woods 
and cover them 
with stones.

They do not care 
what neighbors think, 
falling down 
from too much drink. 
Repeated visits 
from police 
result in warnings, 
then release.

They fight like this 
for weeks on end 
and neither has 
the will to bend.

The sum of all 
this give-and-take?

One can’t forgive.  
One will not break.

These one-time lovers, 
sometime-friends, 
siloed in their misery, 
leave wounds behind 
that will not mend, 
oblivious to history.