Loose Ends

I see the threads are coming loose and frayed

constructed bands unknot along your wrist,

the tenderness of hanging on betrayed.

Despite the love with which each knot was made,

they snap, unwrap; the faded colors twist.

I see the threads are coming loose and frayed.

We’ve kept our distance from the truth displayed.

We walked in blindness, seeming to insist

the tenderness of hanging on betrayed.

We don’t expect to see our bonds decayed;

yet peering through the cracks of lips unkissed,

I see the threads are coming loose and frayed.

We’ve kept our silence, each of us afraid

the other saw the ending. We resist

the tenderness of hanging on. Betrayed.

Convenience or devotion--well, we stayed.

Corroding, disconnecting, we subsist.

I see the threads are coming loose and frayed,

the tenderness of hanging on betrayed.