my head rested on his smooth chest,

never knowing it lay on a fault line,

never knowing such fragility existed

just beneath the rib cage;

 

it wasn’t until I felt the tremors,

saw him tilt off kilter

that I understood the gravity

of loving blind;

 

how cruel to be upended,

swallowed by a fissure,

buried beneath the rubble of lies;

mercy allowed deep breaths,

 

allowed shouts for help and strength

to reach a stranger’s fingers

right before the last thread of daylight

was pulled from the sky.