Faded Photos

Another night charade The cost of silence paid Glances cold and still Stare beyond the chill Moments before the ice Melts into advice An angry morning breaks As we start to count mistakes That’s not how it began Never part of any plan But what came true Was nothing could pull us through In the end all we both left Were faded photos on a shelf Maybe it’s pursuing names Of those who cheat at games Receipts from secret bars Hidden notes from old memoirs Then you give it all you got Maybe we did, but truth says not Nobody tried Nobody cried That’s not grief Not honest belief But what came true Was nothing could pull us through In the end we stood apart In a courtroom of cheated hearts No begging one last chance No music for one last dance Only finding that after the oath Who we were betrayed us both In the end all we could say Dances don’t last and beggars don’t pay There were cruel thoughts In the battles we fought And in the dance of choices We whispered with savage voices What started with a kiss Somehow came to all this Leaving the bitter taste Of words we would not erase That’s not me you curse Or you who wanted it first But what only came true Was nothing could pull us through In the end all we achieved Were lies we both believed Lives that wandered on the edge Lives that faltered on the ledge Forging a separate peace A treaty of welcome relief