Unfinished piece

‘Look at me’ she said

‘I can’t

You might see what I don’t understand

You might see the fear

And when I look at you

I hold my breath’.

I looked away

Something obscure to her

Something she did not know

She knew people

Wanting

Lusting

Craving

when I did not look at her

She felt unwanted

When it was the opposite

I wanted too much

Oceans apart

And with one glimpse

I was shaking

She soon stopped asking me to look at her

And instead asked someone else

Who would stare her right in the eye

And lust

And want

And need

‘she’s safe’ she said

‘she will never hurt me’

little did she know

I was just as scared as her

She said I read her too well

I was part of her

broken children

Putting together puzzles

that could never be complete

In protecting ourselves

We lost each other

When she looked at me

I stared at the ground

When she was not looking

I stopped breathing

Until we both shut down

What fools we were

Knowing what we could have had

But too frightened to look

For longer than a moment

Because what she knew

And what I knew

But could never say

Is all it takes is a moments gaze

to find the missing pieces

of the puzzles.