I Do. I Don't. I Can't. I Won't

Slammed by Mary Walkden and Paula Blois

Two words , so small
they bind, I gag
choked out in passing
spoken once, silenced forever

Ague I was
I had to be
perhaps fevered, faint
my sole explanation, I fear.

Said for bliss, of wedded miss
soul ownership fought for dowry
longing stripped from the heart
year after year

A bed of roses is this?
no petals, but pricks and thorns
have I sown, stabbing my heart
with no regard

Wilting, aged, garden of evil
Ivy's overgrown, masking truth
covered in facts of lies.
Trapped in vines of soured grapes

Bitter whine they make, these grapes of wrath
will I stay the course on life-sentence path?
Beat me, cheat me, I will not break
for sake of two small words

I'll live in spite, kiss you goodnight
seething ,plotting, wondering "why"
"I do" I don't , I can't, I won't
We wake , we take, our life , is fake

Fairytale life? Not as your wife
To this challenge you know I will rise
One thing still is true, those two words 'I do'
are a risk I won't again take.