INK

There’s ink bleeding into the water.
What was once clean and pure,
Is now poisoned with words,
Dripping off pages never read;
Made venomous by things never said.
Unreciprocated, unsent, made bitter by regret;
Can’t see the bottom; can’t see the end.

There’s nothing reflected here anymore;
The mirror pool is distorted, contorted.
Virtues that were once so important,
Things like loyalty, like honor,
Are muddled in the murk.
Everything is corrupted,
And all that’s left is hurt.

There’s ink bleeding into the water.
Making it harder to see –
It was filthy from the start.
Sipping cyanide, it was inevitable,
I’d die,
Lose my mind and stop my heart.
I’d dye,
Colored, jaded, tainted.
I poisoned the well,
And now I can’t tell,
If it’s too late to be honest,
Or only too soon to say farewell.

 – Jessie Gutierrez