Paper Butterflies

 

Images of hopeless dreams

Hopeful wishes floating

Manifested in four words

Fairytale ending unreached.

Will you marry me?

She held her breath

Not believing the truth

Ignoring all the waving flags

Someone choosing me

Eternally tied, entwined

Like vines or thorns

Ripping at her peace

Something just seems wrong

Not the unrequited side

But the force of feigned affection

Falsifying all likelihoods

She kept the secret

Questioning her answer

From the start

Knowing the end would come

Stuck in the guise of her own making

Afraid of the whispers 

Haunted by the cost 

The dress like a specter

Everything ready except the official

Frozen words build walls all around

His truth breaking through

Releasing her transformed 

Unafraid of the looks

His harsh words of self-hatred

The relieved sigh of retraction

Paper butterflies flew untethered