Some Labeled it Villain; I Labeled it Love

I can still hear his voice gruff with grief,

screaming through the other end of the phone:

YOU

LEFT

ME!

Words sharpened against the tongue,

dipped in momentary hate

piercing my war-torn heart

Somehow the battlefield had stretched beyond

a home once shared

Spanning the four miles between us now,

anger exiting his throat like key-point bullets

Traveling the lowest vibration against electromagnetic radio waves

to obliterate my windpipe

In all of this, he still failed to see

the love I had for him, wouldn't allow me to stay

It wasn't the act of treason he was witnessing,

as he painted me a loveless land

A country no longer worthy of defense

But, his broken heart gave him the right to bear arms

and label me his villain

Strapping vest to chest,

feeling the courage of assault, somehow outweighing

the bravest act I've ever done

In all of this, he still failed to hear

ever need and plead laid before his boots

like a map of the terrain,

to get out from behind enemy lines

Emboldened to ask for a different kind of love,

I wasn't saying goodbye to hurt him,

was letting go in an attempt to heal us both

As we hung up, I painted the purple heart next to his name

and while he bandaged his wounds with blondes,

I sat in the trenches of my own shadows

Dug my heels in deeper

and understood that we were no longer at war anymore

My medal of honor still hangs next to dog tags and divorce papers

We are no longer at war,

but sometimes the scars forget-