How Could You

When oaths aren't upheld, when vows mean nothing, when promises that should have been kept sacred are broken...

It used to be that vows mattered
Oaths were kept, pledges upheld
Your word was your bond
Willingly given, honor something
That kept a man driven
Faith, belief, by which one could tell
The measure of a man
Integrity, by which one would stand

And even as the bridges burn
You dare to look back

How could you?
Oath breaker, forsworn
You tore our lives apart
How could you?
Heart render, disgraceful
You turned your back on all we could have had

Deceit was betrayal
A sin in the eyes of God and Man
A severing of ties, murderer of Trust
Causing covenants and countries to fail
The weak to scream and the blind to wail
Like a plague that takes the strength of the land
Down to death and dust

And even as the bridges burn
You dare to look back

How could you?
Oath breaker, forsworn
You tore our lives apart
How could you?
Heart render, disgraceful
You turned your back on all we could have had

And even as the bridges burn
You dare to look back

You scream and you cry and you beg
For the things that I have
Because you cannot make it on your own
So deep and so far and so low you’ve fallen
Yet the chains remain unbroken
Those words still left unspoken
How I wish you’d just say them once
So my life wouldn’t have to be a lie

“I still love you…give it one more try…”

Still even as the bridges burn
And the world we knew
Falls to pieces around us

You dare to look back…

How could you?
Oath breaker, forsworn
You tore our lives apart
How could you?
Heart render, disgraceful
You turned your back on all we could have had

How could you?
Oath breaker, forsaken
You ripped us both apart
How could you?
Hope ender, bloodletter
You burned down the life we could have had

And even as the flames consume us
You dare to look back
How could you?

Author's Note

Something I worked on for a while, on behalf of someone in my life. Now I know their pain, if but a fraction of it.

Reviews

[Rob Santana]

Incredible!!! This piece brought chills down my spine. I recently came out of a relationship in the worse way. This write describes it to the fullest. Unbelieveable, I'm still struggling somewhat but each day that goes by it gets better for me. I'm not going to get into it because this write explains everything. Caradoc, without even knowing it you helped me. I'm so glad I came across this write. Amazing how that works. If only she could read this. She's actually a fellow writer here at WC...........Well done my friend, well done.

[Caradoc]

I'm glad this helped. I actually wrote this piece from the point of view of a family member who went through a terrible divorce, so yea. I definitely get where you're coming from. My own troubles have shown me it's hard, but it does get easier to move on as time goes by.

Thank you. I hope things get much easier for you, sooner rather than later. Be well my friend. :)

[Chidoriflower]

It's so terrible, so terrifying when the bonds that used to be strong, break so easily. This work describes it all so well. I had a relative who went through something like this. He's the kind of person who hides his emotions; this seems like what he was going through. I could see the pain in his eyes. This is a powerful and soul-ripping work of art.

[Caradoc]

Yea. I wrote this from the POV of a relative. It was what I felt he would say if he could get the words out.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

[Chidoriflower]

Yeah.
You're very welcome. :)

[Lyn Anderson]

This is a powerful, emotive, effective, and heart wrenching piece. The repetition is used perfectly to etch it into the brain. One of my favs of yours I think.

[Caradoc]

You zeroed in on it. I didn't even have to name it and you found the piece I was talking about anyway.

This piece is quite personal to me. I wrote it from the point of view of a family member.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

[quinfinn]

this is tragic and lovely. many will no doubt recognize a part of their own life experiences within this tender write. well penned.

[Caradoc]

Thanks Quin.

[quinfinn]

a pleasure to read your art

[Robbie~xoxo~]

"Like a plague that takes the strength of the land
Down to death and dust

And even as the bridges burn
You dare to look back

How could you?
Oath breaker, forsworn
You tore our lives apart
How could you?"~ I must say, this tore at my heart... The pain is searing, fueled by emotional turmoil...
Even when the bridges are burning there is still something to pull you back into the fire... it's not so easily forgotten...

Profound!...well penned, Caradoc!~xoxo~

[Caradoc]

Thank you. When I was writing this, I was really channeling the pain I saw someone close to me going through. It was just...a really messed up situation...

[Robbie~xoxo~]

You expressed it wonderfully... I felt the pain. xx

[NA]

I can relate sadly...how could you....I remember asking that myself....powerful read

[Caradoc]

Yea. There are almost no words.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

[Tina Kline]

Repairing trust is a very hard thing to do...broken trust creates such deep painful wounds sometimes they never heal. Great poem!

[Caradoc]

Indeed it is true. Trust is something that is exceedingly hard to mend. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a review.

[Pax]

there is a time that when trust is broken its harder to repair... much harder to fix... then I'll say how could you....

a very emotional piece i enjoyed much..
great work...

[Caradoc]

Thanks for stopping by, my friend.

[Pax]

your welcome...

[Mia]

I started typing and then felt as though my words were empty. What I thought of this, what I felt reading this…I can’t seem to put into words.
“And even as the flames consume us
You dare to look back
How could you?”
I wasn’t expecting this; you’ve knocked the words right out of me. I’m speechless.

[Caradoc]

I have some pretty intense feelings about what inspired this piece. Someone I know is going through a really terrible divorce which is pure Hell on the children...I tried to put myself in their shoes with this...I wish they could say the words to the other person, the one who started it.

I swear some people just need to have the taste slapped out of their mouths.

Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. You always seem to have something "worth hearing" to say.

[Mia]

Wouldn’t life be great if love would break along with the promises? Then maybe your friend would be able to say what they need to. My heart always breaks for the children involved, their innocence is being stolen and they’ll be marked with this for the rest of their lives.
You are very welcome.

[Caradoc]

It would. But then I think we'd be nothing more than machines, able to turn our emotions off at the flick of a switch, whenever it was "convenient". Where then would humanity be?

[Mia]

Look at humanity now, reading peoples work, reading this shows me we aren’t doing so well. You take the good with the bad though; you fall in love and trust someone hoping that they cherish the fact. When it works it makes all the other stuff irrelevant, sadly not too many are that fortunate nowadays.

[Caradoc]

No they aren't. One has to wonder if it's worth saving or if it would be better if something came and wiped the slate clean...

[Mia]

I think that sometimes, but then I think about the people I love. My brother, my boyfriend, my real friends…I would gladly suffer through all the pooh just to watch them live full lives, full of love and realized dreams. I’m an optimistic cynic, if ever there was one.

[Caradoc]

You remind me of me with that last comment. Well...I hope you have a good day/night.

[Mia]

You too :)

[Pax]

Mia your the ever caring person...like i always thought you are... I agree with Caradoc...some thing are meant to be broken...that's how we learn...I've hear this saying that.. its not the experience that defines a person but how this person got through with it...or so that what's i remember the quote was...kudos to both two of you...

[MOON]

Poignant flowing write, love the refrain how could you , like a song almost and the heartbreak and betrayal evident in the words you dare to look back... This is an emotional read .

[Caradoc]

I'm glad you liked it. It was pent up for a while. I'm going to have to call this some kind of song, though in the beginning it wasn't intended as such. It just sort of evolved on its own as I put the words down.

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

[MOON]

Pleasure!