He called it love with trembling hands,
But tied my heart with shifting sands.
Each word he spoke, a sharpened thread,
That stitched me silent, filled with dread.
He dangled care like scraps of light,
Just out of reach, then snuffed the night.
I begged for peace, he fed me fear,
And whispered, “See? I’m always near.”
My body broke in pleading still,
While his grew louder off my will.
And in the mirror, I now see—
I loved a man who emptied me.