Ties That Bind
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The Chain

Barely wider than a piece of thread
It binds with the strength of steel;
The wisps of delicately intertwining silver
Are weightless, yet bear the world.
It traces a fine line about my neck,
A nearly imperceptible trickle spilling softly over gentle curves;
Fragile as it is, it will never be broken,
Never severed, though strained it may be;
It carries, deeply embedded in its substance,
A value not to be seen or appraised, only felt.
The memory of those lives left long behind me now
Is woven into its worth.
Those gone, not dead though they might as well be,
Are always with me, willingly or not;
Briefly their lives shine whenever it catches a glint of light
In an ongoing tribute to the past.
It allows me to forget them without guilt or pain
By recalling them to my memory.
It is as if, through it, they are constantly present,
Leaving me peace where before there was only dread.
The chain binds me to their memory
And by enslaving me sets me free.
Its web ensnares my mind in its intricacy
No more often than need be.
It is not a cruel ruler, I submitted to it knowingly;
I gave it its reign, it received its power from me;
A piece of myself will be forever linked with their memory
For parts of the same chain are we.
--~}@{~--


Waif's Redemption

The wind wails with incessant cries
Mourning the forgotten dead.
Waves triumphantly pound the cliffs
Where many were laid to bed.

There, lonely waifs to the storm-tossed seas
Offer their worthless lives.
Their loves, ships lost, would find them there
To reunite with the drifting tides.

Then lightning would light each ones' wand'ring path
So her lost love she could plainly see;
Then the thunder claps for true love found
In the depths of the raging sea.

Rejoined in the midst of angry waves
Struggling to tear them apart,
The foam engulfs the two and carries them away,
In its protective care they will never again part.
--~}@{~--


Claimed

Him.
In awe
I saw all;
From on my knees
My naked neck pleads.
To memories and hope
Unbroken circle shows my
Submissiveness only His.
Gratitude unwavering for this.
--~}@{~--


Overshadowed

Deep in your heart it hides.
All other fears it defies;
Living like a parasite feeding on your fear
Increasing its hold on you with every passing year.

Of you it will always be a part,
Piercing your sanity with its poisoned darts.
Though you try to stifle it, still it does remain
Haunting you and cursing you with its deadly bane.

Day by day it grows;
Becoming all you know.
It lurks in the shadows of everything you do
Until independent thoughts are a very precious few.

Your life is now its shadow.
You are completely in its throes.
Existence as an individual is a distant memory;
But, now you realize, you were never truly free.
--~}@{~--


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