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Writer's pictureJoshua Rios

Warning Signs

It’s possible to love someone enough to know that you must part.


You know them as your own soul, and you know they’ll break your heart.


It’s possible their intentions are pure, so they’ll keep you in the dark.


But honest fib after harmless lie is when deception grows and starts.


They always leave a hand behind, firmly placed at home.


While the body ventures out, the other hand does not wander alone.


In control, they believe, and never pause to consider their deeds.


Their self esteem, an upward steep, though they ignore where it leads.


It’s all so new and different than it was with you in the past.


They think it’s impossible, therefore, to end up in the same place as the last.


Yet the same as it ever was, from every nuance to rush of feelings.


So much in their favor, you believe they stacked the cards they were dealing.


Repressed attractions bloom in the appropriate seasons.


Exotic and fragrant, deadly and flagrant…


Yet tended, for these very reasons.


It is no longer a mystery once the’ve done it again.


You recall, it was never a lover they sought, but always merely a friend.


Just as you once were when they fought to keep you till the end.


So too will you face their wrath, as they insist it is you who must bend.


Blame it on fate, karma, or the wretched place it first placed roots.


A tree, in such tainted soil, could never yield hopeful fruits.


And now you are outside, looking in, and realize there are none to blame.


Truly none, for in this dysfunctional, predictable world, there is not one to name.


For life is just that; all at once, all things uniquely the same.


If desire is like fuel to the fire, then curiosity is wind to the flame.


You have to accept the shame, feeling like the loser in this game.


A fool you were to believe they'd never again spark a new flame.


A broken heart becomes wise to understand the storm coming.


It is familiar with the desire that drives people to be so cunning.


A broken heart is broke because it has faced storms before.


Like a tornado unleashed within its own core.


So this broken heart would rather not ignore these red flags.


It would rather leave that shame, forever behind in the past.


It seems to be a choice of the lesser of two evils.


Much like choosing between a foul or distasteful meal.


It seems it can all be averted with one fell, “goodbye.”


Yet the heart knows desire and pain do not easily die.


The storm is going to blow, that much is out of your control.


You can hold fast and hope to survive it’s thunderous roll.


But what will be left of you after those forces take its toll?


And how much will you deny, and have to bury in a hole?


By now the broken heart knows and is well aware.


Nowhere it is written that love is a harmless affair.


So beware, and recall the words they freely shared.


They were warnings and truths laid out in the bare.


A person knows best where they are flawed and error.


And when they tell you theirs, it’s because they love you and care.


So beware, and take their red flags to heart.


Else yours will be broken, trampled, torn and ripped apart.

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