You had walked with your trembling hands clasped in front of you,
the candles illuminating the shadowed chapel and burning olive aromas into the air to mask the aged perfume of sin.
Your footsteps echoed an ominous melody as
your quivering tears baptized the skin upon your face.
You needed something to believe in, didn't you?
That's why you gave up your heart—
ripped it from within you and presented it to him as an offering of your love.
He watched as rubies
spilled out of your hollowed chest,
and he held your heart in his ethereal hands as the last of its beats sounded at the altar.
He devoured it before you,
licked the sweet copper taste off of his lips
and thanked you for your sacrifice.
You believed in him whole-heartedly,
devoted to him as if he was God himself,
but tell me,
did he believe in you?
He whispered to you in visions
that he could purify your soul with his touch
and grant you indulgences
to reserve a place in heaven just for you—
it seemed as though he was your miracle.
But how did it feel
when he abandoned you,
savoring all of your love for himself
and not offering his heart in return?
Had you dropped to your knees
and muttered desperate prayers
hoping your pleads would find him?
Do you think he listened?
Do you think he cared?
You followed him mindlessly
as though he could instill life
within your barren spirit.
You gave him everything
in hopes that he could save you.
Now lies a gaping hole
where your heart used to sing—
your body in ruins,
your faith obliterated.
Tell me, do you have any love left to give?
Or did he devour it all?
YOU ARE READING
The Ebb & Flow of Virtue
Poetry~ There is good and bad constantly warring with each other inside you, a small voice resounds in my conscience just as my vision dips underneath the salty water, it is similar to how the land fights with the sea, the sky with gravity, the light...
