The Turning Away

I'm standing alone
in the cold grey dawn
of impending loneliness
stripped of all
the protecting warmth
that came with suppressed emotions.
Cowering from
the ceaseless drafts
of bitter biting shame
I realise I had no right
to want or to be wanted.

Why did I have
to speak my mind
why did I have to feel
could something ever
be so right
and yet turn out so wrong.
Wandering through
the roads I've travelled
confirm my darkest fear
It doesn't pay
to truly love
for love is fraught with pain.

And so denying
a natural feeling
I resolve to walk away.
The sands of time
will soon erase
all signs of desperate hope.
The prospect of
becoming a leaf
in a book of fond acquaintances
forces me
to seek comfort
in the darkness of isolation.