Loving you is like living in the war years
my feelings exposed as targets
circled by your understanding of life 

all's fair, you say 

marriage is a treaty signed for convenience
made invalid on a whim of new perfume
lies, a well utilized weapon in your arsenal 

my soul has become a bombed out ruin, unfit for habitation
I cannot look inside myself for fear that I am dead
a walking casualty of emptiness 

my dignity, I have placed on the bargaining table
watched you step upon it as a pedestal for your pretty speech
and yet I still hope for alliance 

within each cease fire, I pray an end to this battle
gladly would I submit as occupied territory 

but you insist on complete annihilation 

marked with stony silence
my dreams lie in neat little rows within my mind 

just how far must I retreat to escape your claim upon my heart? 

defeat is a white flag waving acceptance of yet another conquest
death, an untrustworthy ally I court favor with 

I do not ask for aid or restitution
simply end this war that I might go on living
rebuild what is left of me 

play the hero,
and let me go....

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