Death of a Marriage

There was a time when I looked at you
with eyes full of adoration--full of innocence.
But now the light in my eyes has dimmed
with the darkness of our murdered love.
How can I say that I love you
when I cannot bear your touch?...
when I cannot meet your eyes?
How can I go on living this lie?
I must confess--
The love I had for you is gone,
banished, forced never to return.
We cannot forget the past
any more than we can predict the future.
And when we said, "Until death do us part,"
were we thinking of a physical death?
or of a death of the spirit--a death of our love?
Because I have been dead for years
inside the cold recesses of my heart.
In that powerful chamber,
so full of the ability to circulate life throughout the body,
I feel--nothing.