Righteous indignation
Selfishness and hesitation
So unfair the things felt but unseen
Capturing souls, betraying, deceiving

Lies and accusations of the same
Slandered and defamed a good woman’s name
Holding her up to some moral code
With rules only fools would know

By the time she could respond
All but the core of her was gone
Ignored and neglected, with final insults
Consecrated devastation internal results

The tears she cried were wasted
Salted and bitter they tasted
Shared in the face of her hope shattered
Convinced these tears should have mattered

From the distance, watch her horizon
While her body fades, the soul is undying
So much lost before last breath is drawn
Much left to gain before sunlight is gone

With each ray of the sun on fire
Echoing with longing desire
Lingering there in the hidden places
Behind the eyes of two men’s faces

The story is old and timeless
With all the ancient reminders
Pious but pitiful once she was
Redeemed but unsaved by mortal love

One man took her to be his bride
Another needed her by his side
To appease them both, husband and friend
She gave herself to both the men

Though both men knew of the other lover
To the world they were known as brothers
One sharing her in the other’s stead
One taking her nightly to his bed

Until the child was born with eyes of blue
Though sometimes these things happen, true
To dutiful husband, eyes so brown
The blue-eyed brother was the talk of the town

And talk the townsfolk surely did
About which brother had fathered the kid
Until two years on the child did die
As did the light in the woman’s eyes

The blue-eyed brother left without a sound
But that didn’t stop the gossip in the town
“Adulterer! Harlot! Tramp! Scoundrel!”
From love to death, the lies surrounded

Then one night, deep in the dark
The brother came home, bringing his heart
Accepted again by brother with open arms
Once again the woman fell into his charms

Until hidden in the dark of night
He shared in his lady love’s delights
An elder in the town discovered
Proof of unholy love uncovered

Make-believe trials under Christian guise
The verdict of guilty was no surprise
Before the morning’s light befell
They hung him by the mourning well

As chance would have, a fortnight on
The husband, distraught from losing brother and son
With a gun put a bullet through his head
While lying alone in the marriage bed

Everything she loved, gone
In agony and silence, her heart beat on
Broken though as it was, she remained
Alone, devastated with overwhelming pain
Lonely in her nightmare, when once filled up
With more than needed, more than love
She fought the scorn, lived, loved and cried
Until alone, she closed her eyes and died

Rumor, innuendo, blatant stories and lying
Through slings and arrows of accusation
There are some things still worth fighting
And love is not lost by dying

 

 

(c) copyright 2014 Michelle Devon