The sinful act
of having been
the other man..
comes at a cost.

Because
the innocence
that you once
carried..
of believing
everyone is pure
and plays it fair..
is now forever lost.

It’s not a path untrodden.
You have gone there.
And have learned
the rulebook of what
makes a loving union
ever so gradually bleed..
Whether or not your efforts
managed to succeed.

The sword of instinct
that you’ve whetted
on ill-purpose
makes your
intuition sharp.
You cannot always
prove it,
but somehow you feel it
in your gut..
when that same blade
is wielded
by the hand of other..
aimed precisely at
your heart.