An Epistle to Love
By Reann Nelson
Ever since I was a little girl
I had heard of you
And wanted to meet you.
You were a friend
Of my parents
My sister and her
Husband.
I never understood
why my friends
ran and screamed,
‘Cooties.’
I was excited
When you introduced me
To him.
That makes
You and me
friends now.
But
why is
my body
searing?
Why did I turn around
and see that
he
was gone?
But you
were there,
knife coated
in crimson
from its sheath
in my back.
Where you plunged it.
And here I thought,
You were my friend.