Acid burned me as it touched My soul
Cauterizing the tattered expectation
As I stood there raw , my heart bared
To the assassin of my desire
Her tone harsh, she took her shot
Not caring, or even realizing the destruction
Her words wrought
We stand alone, each man an island in the darkness
Seek solace in a word, a touch, a smile
Separated from our dream
By the starkness of the bitter reality of life
We start out a wonder to be beheld, life the
gift of the enlightened
Slowly, purposefully, we are reined in
Extinguished, diminished until we are left hollow
Jaded, dissolutioned by the sheer carelessness, we encounter
We become embodiments of that rejection, that pain
Women lament the lack of good men, and yet
They fail to see or understand that
Their words and actions destroy the innocent heart, the loving spirit
Leaving only a bitter shell to pick up the pieces of the soul, they have ripped asunder
Until all that remains is a monster of selfishness and greed
An empty vessel devoid of love or compassion
A creature of their own creation and the perpetrator of this creation ultimately is
Themselves.

An Original Poem by H.R. Beebe