A Night without Armor

The shadows are my closest friends
Now that you have gone
And taken the daylight with you.
I chase them, begging, "don't go!"

I'm turning all the photographs around,
Hiding from your cold brown eyes--
Like daggers heading for my heart,
Though I didn't know it then.

Trying not to picture your face in the dark,
Trying desperately to burn your voice from my memory.
The smoke is curling through the moonlight
But the only thing burning is the charred edges of a poem from last winter.

Is it too late to take back the "I love you"s?
Is it too late to shield myself from your harsh words?
Please forgive me, I didn't know I was so weak.
It was so easy for you to take me, so easy to throw me away.

I'm open, I'm vulnerable, I'm breaking into pieces.
My sword has fallen, too heavy to lift.
My eyes have filled with flood waters.
It is too late to wake myself.