She shuts her eyes, an image comes
An image comes unbidden,
Pictures play inside her mind
Of things she's long kept hidden.
He shuts his eyes, no image comes
No visions plague his mind,
If our third eye true exists
Then his third eye is blind.
Memories haunt her every night
They swamp her in her bed,
This movie runs twice nightly in
The cinema of her head.
No memories haunt his sleep at night
No conscience pricks his sleep,
Any thoughts of shame or guilt
He's long since buried deep.
Her fears are always lurking
By day they dog her stride,
The only thing that gets her through
A dwindling sense of pride.
A cheery laughing joker
A smile e'er in place,
Before this day is over
He'll wear a different face.
With weary step and tired mind
She walks a busy street,
Across a press of shoppers
His and her eyes meet.
Each one knows the other
She falls at last to grief,
Her innocence was stolen
Before her stands the thief.
A friend puts arms around her
Takes her home to weep,
A sobbing revelation of
The terrors of her sleep.
Guilt at last has found him
His very soul is smote,
Shame bites deep within him
Its bile burns his throat.
This night will be quite different
Two roles will be reversed,
Talk and tears will cleanse her
Remorse will leave him cursed.
She shuts her eyes, no image comes
For once she's free of fears,
Tonight her sleep is peaceful
The first in six long years.
He shuts his eyes, an image comes
An image comes unbidden,
Guilt invades his sleeping mind
No more to be kept hidden.
COPYRIGHT D M PAMMENT 2010

Comments
Silver Spun Sand | January 6, 2010 - 19:10
Really liked this one, kheldar. Well done on a richly deserved cherry.
Tina
kheldar | January 6, 2010 - 19:50
Thanks for that Tina, you're too, too kind. I wasn't sure about uploading this one but now I'm glad I did
Firebird | January 7, 2010 - 08:57
Love the poem ,kheldar. Beautifully written :)
shoe | January 7, 2010 - 10:06
A well deserved cherry, Great poem, :~}
kheldar | January 7, 2010 - 13:30
Thank you Firebird & shoe, you're very kind
Kachina | January 19, 2010 - 13:20
I really like this. Haunting and sad xx
kheldar | January 19, 2010 - 14:26
Thanks Kachina, I wrote the opening two lines to this more than 20 ago, I rediscovered them in an old notebook that I hadn't looked at in years. It ended up as two complete poems in the end, "I shut" and "She shuts". I'm so pleased I never threw that notebook away :--)