The Trenches

The trenches of love:
where bombs rain down
over you tearing apart,
not your flesh and organs,
but things much more vulnerable.

Fragments of angry words
and hostility pierce the
exterior of your soul
until they finally tear it
fully apart.
You become hollow.

Bullets from disappointment
and promises not fulfilled
assault your chest from all sides,
penetrating your heart
where thousands of millimeter holes
leak blood as your life
slowly drains away.

A fellow soldier wearing
blindingly white armor
reaches his hand down to where
you cower to lift you from the ditch.
His bayonet stabs you
through the stomach
and pushes you back down in the mud.
As he turns away, you see that
his back is charred black.

You look to your right where
the captain is climbing from the
trench and tear across the battlefield,
white flag in hand.
When he reaches the enemy to surrender,
a sigh of relief escapes your mouth.
You are saved.

Before you can cry out to your
fellow soldiers you realize
they have all disappeared,
right as your captain delivers
the final, cheating blow to your head.
You black out.

These are the trenches of love.