


                            The Slashing


                       She smiled at him then,
                       A smile
                       Which could freeze
                       Even the hardiest of polar bears.
                        
                       Her eyes warned
                       In a flashing signal,
                       "Stay there,
                       Stay away from me."
                        
                       She held out her arm to him,
                       Her hand squeezed
                       In a fist--
                       A white procelain ball.
                        
                       She raised her other arm
                       Something shiny flashed
                       In the light--
                       A razor.
                        
                       She drew it
                       Slowly
                       Across her lovely,
                       Frail wrist.
                        
                       But nothing happened.
                       He sighed
                       A sigh of immense relief.
                       He knew she could not do it.
                        
                       Slowly but surely
                       Red beads
                       Welled
                       Along the gash.
                        
                       "No!!" he shouted.
                       And it reverbrated
                       through the hollow
                       Empty room.
                        
                       "I'm sorry," she whispered.
                       The tear drop and the blood
                       Fell
                       Simultaneously.
                        
                       And smashed
                       On the grey, concrete floor
                       Two drops
                       Representing her pain and angony.


Anonymous
Printed in The Maple Leaf -- August 1986


