APRIL 2023

The clink of glasses echoed through the air 

They smiled at one another, sipping on wine

With lips just as red and hearts just as sweet 

She often wondered if he enjoyed this dinner 

He often wondered if she knew what he was planning 

They often wondered if love was enough 

It was a romance for the ages

He had swept her off her feet

Like a true fairy tale romance 

So she opened her heart up for him 

Giving him shelter against the world that was hell-bent on killing him 

He hadn’t deserved that love 

They were both aware of that 

Even as he confessed he could never imagine loving anyone else

She could feel that his fingers were crossed behind his back 

Because every time she looked into his eyes, she saw pain 

She saw heartbreak and terror and all the emotions a man in love shouldn’t feel, right? 

But he was perfection 

With his golden hair 

Sparkling eyes, filled with mischief 

A smirk that promised the world and beyond

Always doting on her 

Cleaning her wounds when the world tore her down

Time and time again

But she was everything he couldn’t handle

She was happiness and she was joy 

She had been all that he wanted and all that he couldn’t have 

She trusted too easily and fell too hard, 

But she loved hard and forgave easily

And it was impossible to forget her 

He knew he shouldn’t have loved her

Shouldn’t have offered his heart

Only to break hers instead

But it was who he was

He couldn’t keep things for long

Nor could he love anyone for long

He had no place in her life 

So why was it

Every time he cut her heart

She still let him in

Praying to God that the bleeding would stop 

Just like she prayed he would stop loving her

And she hated herself for that

Just like he hated her for not letting him go 

Because he deserved a cruel fate 

He deserved her hate, her fury, her angry fists 

But she was determined to keep him 

And it was driving him mad

Driving him to the brink of insanity

And he drove over the brink…  

“I love you,” she whispered, watching as the rivulets of blood ran down his hands. 

“I’m sorry” he kissed her neck softly, 

His hands trembling and his shoulders shaking

Uncontrollably as he sobbed into her embrace

“It’s okay” she combs her hand through his hair one last time, 

“It was my fault for falling in love with you” 

He couldn’t reply as she pulled him closer, 

Thrusting the knife deeper into her chest to end their misery

He falls to his knees, holding her body to his heart

Watching as she squeezed his hand one last time

Watching lifelessly as her blood stained his white shoes

Her blood was red and as sweet as 

Cherry wine. 

• Diya Sebastian