Coward

It will take more than 
Saline tears flowing, 
Bleeding veins red and angry, 
Apologies without regret, 
To save you here. 

Because what laid in your shadows 
Was simple pretense, masked, 
And easy to ignore, 
What was once faceless, and nameless. 

Here it lays now bare and open, 
With luminescent eyes bright in the light 
Staring back at you, 
Blindfolds gone. 

Speared & wounded, 
It's now claimed you 
When you realize it never feared you; 
But it was you, you, 
Afraid, all knowing, that the sword 
Was never in your hands. 

There is no better punishment, 
Nothing more suitable now, 
Than to be it's slave, it's captive, 
To be shackled standing, 
As it stares you down, deep, 
And you can't, can't, 
Look back. 

-Noemi E. Garcia Rigsby