Unsung Wartime Romance

You were kind

for a time

after empty pavement pounding

battles

I epically stomped through

and over you

You were kind for a time,

granting freedoms greater

than those you took away:

a home,

a bed,

a place to rest my head.

You were kind for a time,

allowing me

the knit of the needle

a pink yarn suture

to tie my bloodied heart.

You were kind,

for a time.

And in the space of a breath,

took the knife

from your well-tailored ankle boot,

slid it between my ribs

and smiled a goodbye

from behind.

And all I can think

among these paralleled walls

is how for a time,

you were kind,

and rainkissed my face

under the overpass,

heated my nights

and picknicked steampunk effervescence.

You were kind for a time,

and I played the fool,

unwilling to see;

you were meant to be

a spun-sugar sweetness

lying soothing on the tongue,

and I on the playground,

ate a mouthful of dirt.