It’s as hard for me to be alive as it is for you to be dead

This pendant contains your picture on one side, a lock of hair on the other

Desperately do I cling to the you that I knew

A disbelieving heart that will not accept

Sentences can be commuted, can they not?

Shall I remain imprisoned in my head the rest of my days

Condemned by judge and jury unknown, unseen

Collateral damage in a battle that was not mine

Valiantly do I play my part in this charade

Your most trusted lieutenant. Remember?

Wondering more every day

Who is protected here

And to what have I borne witness?

~ kei
29 January 2014

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch Baroque Era Painter, 1632-1675) Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window 1657 detail.