Not The Words I Wanted To Hear

I waited for the words
I wanted you to say
I imagined them
swirling in the wind
wrapping themselves
around me
a warm cocoon
keeping me safe
in their embrace

But when you said them
they were not the words
I wanted to hear
Uncaring words
hurled heartlessly
Their sharp edges
shredded my skin
punctured my heart
lacerated my soul

I retreated
into my shell
hoping the balm
of solitude
would heal
my raw wounds
With the skein
of my unravelling
self threaded
through the needle
of silence
I laboured
to stitch my
tattered life
together again

© 2014 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved