"STOCKHOLM SYNDROME" in "RESTLESS: POETICALLY-SPEAKING"

“I love him. / I love her. / I love them.”
Yet this is not the first time,
you come to me with the same problem(s).
The endless fighting, the infidelity,
the abuse, oh-so-constantly.
I’m surprised you haven’t lost your sanity.

“I love him. / I love her. / I love them.
He’s my world. / She’s my life. / They’re my everything.”
Yet your tears and anguish still hurt me.
The rage, the jealousy,
the abandonment, oh-so-lonely.
What can I do so you won’t go crazy?

“I love him. / I love her. / I love them.
He says he’s sorry. / She swears she didn’t mean to hurt me. / They beg, ‘Forgive me, baby.’
We’ll work things out,
we’re gonna be okay.”
Now I have to breathe,
oh-so-silently and secretly,
sucking the agony,
right back in.
Let the pieces of my broken heart stay scattered under my skin.

“I love – “
Well, I love you.
God knows it’s true.
What can I do,
when it’s obvious you don’t love me too?
Perhaps nothing.
I think you know all the options.
You don’t need my reprimands.

You just need a pair of non-judgmental, listening ears,
while this listener’s aching to whisk you away
from the same old pain.

Somehow,
you’re still willing to stay.

R.
Jakarta, October 2020