Blameless

we hold each other to blame in our battle of wills

that has been silently waged since we met but

hidden as we were willing to overlook the obvious

in order to provide each other with companionship;

waves of discontent and disillusionment swept

over us like a summer breeze sweeps over the

humidity of the day...  cooling feelings and providing

thoughts and opportunity to self-reflect and ponder;

grievances were aired openly and voices escalated

to the point of concern as everything we perceived was

immediately in contention since reluctant agreements

became our only course of action...  and as our

animosities grew our feelings were silenced and 

preconceived ideas ruled the great forest that had

once provided both of us with plenty of shade trees;

religious observations were replaced by hatred

of the past we could no longer control... sights and

sounds were only ours to enjoy...  nothing was

shared except distrust and the hope that this

would be over sooner than either of us expected;

we were victims of our own battles and there

were no survivors left alive...  nor were any expected

as life for us was now a constant struggle of making

sure our misunderstandings were always correct

and to that end we pledged our allegiance no matter

what the cost or the unintended consequence never

admitting that either of us had ever made a mistake;

we held each other to blame while in our own minds

knowing we're as blameless as the day we were born.

30 September 2021