Kiss and Don’t Tell

A Poem

Image by Pera Detlic from Pixabay

life was a one-way track
till we got down on our knees
and begged forgiveness for all our wrongs.

i told myself i wasn’t to blame,
but the heavens told me different
that day i crossed paths with you again and again.

oaths meant nothing to you,
and maybe they meant little to me —
but i couldn’t see beyond the haze of wanting.

kiss and don’t tell, they say, kiss and don’t tell —
well, i didn’t do a thing, but i’m still here guilty.

life was a two-way street
till things got hard and we bent
to every one of those wayward whims.

i told myself i wouldn’t fall again,
but hell had a different plan for me
and every crime had your name underlined.

promises don’t last like this,
and promises die quick like this —
but i couldn’t imagine a life without you in it.

kiss and don’t tell, they say, kiss and don’t tell —
well, i never said a word, but i still paid the price.