Formidable Devotion

XXXI

MALCOLM'S POV

{Poetic version}

She felt small the first time I touched her,
It had alot to do with where she'd grown up,
There were wounds on her skin that we hadn't talked about yet,
I'd glance at her from a distance,
While she swam by the ocean,
Floating in his arms,
Holding that man tight because he'd been the most important person to her.
God!
She was everything to me and didn't even know it.
But we'd met so soon and yet far too late.
It would take an eternity bridging a bond that was created for twelve solid years.
Could I even try?
It would mean betraying his trust and walking over my own virtues,
Could I go against myself and my believes for her?
The answer was clear as day,
But the odds were never in my favor,
I was doomed from the start.

The second time I touched her there was weight in her bones,
From all the burdens she'd been carrying while moving across the world with a trampled heart,
Having no time to lay any of it down.
He tried to heal her but couldn't.
Not while he was also too hurt to fight.....
With a worn out armour and in the absence of an anchor.
So I took on the battle,
Behind the scenes,
Where he couldn't see me put her back together again delicately,
Doing love's labour,
With no pay.

The third time I touched her it didn't get any easier ignoring how heavy the load on her back had gotten,
I'm not sure what worried me more,
Her being too light to touch or too heavy,
Because she was either unformidably empty or dangerously full,
She could never be free this way,
With a broken man feeding a broken woman,
It couldn't work.
I knew that,
But he couldn't accept their fate and that denial was slowly killing whatever they had left,
Eating everything up from the inside,
Their hopes and ambitions,
Peace and serenity.
She saw what was happening but didn't do much,
"I'm tired," she'd say.
So I let her rest that body on mine.

The more I touched her,
The closer we became,
Until there was no distance between my heart and hers.
She told me about the scars on her body,
Laughed with me,
Danced with me,
Held onto me,
Those eyes got brighter each time we saw each other,
But it was the calm before that blazing storm,
Because my girl hit rock bottom,
Drowning in the bathroom,
Dying from psychological torture,
But he wasn't there.........
So I stayed until she could breathe again.

I wanted to lay my lips on hers,
But couldn't,
She was fragile,
The slightest thing might have overwhelmed her,
I comprehended that,
He didn't,
The sad thing is...he has always known she is way too strong,
But he never calculated the limits of that power.
She was reaching the edge,
My girl was on the verge of falling from the ledge,
She had no more wishes left,
I planted a garden in her heart and gave every flower a name,
Peace,
Courage,
Pleasure,
And selfishly I gave one of the trees my name.
Remembering to make the roots firm.
With guilt....she let me water it.
I grew into a thriving Forest,
And she lived in me rent free.

Any thoughts?

Enjoy.