Heartless

A lifeless wind blew past my face

To still the somber scene.

Spell-bound, I’d found the phantom beast

That only you had seen.

It held ensnared inside its claws

A pulsing, bleeding heart.

I saw it start to hungrily

Tear all the flesh apart.

Behind its legs were useless chains

That looked well-made and new.

An open padlock gave me pause -

The key was kept with you.

Would you unleash such foul a beast,

One you had always feared -

The brute you claimed you only wanted

Dead or disappeared?

You had the power in yourself

To keep it still, at bay.

But now, set free, it roams around

Till all is rank decay.

As silent as the gust of wind

That crept along my face,

Cautiously, I took a step

To leave the wretched place.

The beast stopped still, and turned until

Its eyes accosted mine.

It licked its teeth; I felt a vein

Of ice run down my spine.

It dropped the heart, which fell apart

In shambles at its feet.

A hunger burned within its gaze-

The lust for bloody meat.

My sight went dark, and time unmarked

Flew on as it grew near.

I felt its breath upon my cheek,

A cloud of trembling fear.

I feel its claws and iron jaws

Sink in; it thus begins,

This self-deserved and undeterred

Result of all my sins.

The razors of its sharpened teeth

Sliced open all the spots

Where I had stowed my tender self

In tight, defensive knots.

My heart is ripped out from its cage;

I weakly realize why

This monster made you so afraid

You claimed to wish to die.

My hollow chest, a void at best,

Is taken by the cold.

It feeds, harbinger of regret that’s

Stale from growing old.

My mind crawls back to all the times

I saw it chained, asleep.

You had the keys, my trust, your word -

The things you couldn’t keep.

Another truth, a thought aloof

That stirred, aroused by pain -

This justice served was well deserved

Though I no profit gain.

My blood ran patterns down my face,

And choking on the smell,

I sealed my secret with my death.

I had a key as well.