See them there, I am amidst them
Seven years and more we've been
Side-by-side in every motion
Less like friends than dearest kin.

Favors are not lightly taken,
Threats not lightly thrown aside.
How am I to face the onslaught
Or the favors done confide?

How am I to live at all
If there is nothing I hold dear?
Secrets shared beneath the willow
I must not give in to fear!

Secrets shared beneath the willow?
The willow offered little shade
For "humor" that near led to ruin
I am already betrayed.

Betrayed in heat that numbs the brain, yes
Not in ice of heart and thought
Would I ruin what I hold dear
Fully knowing what I wrought?

Everything will come to ashes
Hope has long since breathed its last
Everything I love will perish
Be it slow or be it fast.

Make it slow, then - damn it all,
The falling stroke in yet more pain
If I am to stay true to folly
Is, in truth, all that I'll gain.

Favors are not lightly taken,
Threats not lightly thrown aside.
Darkness grows and can't be hindered -
I must swell that merciful tide.