Forbidden Love

 In a sea of black, this is the only red;
the only breath of fresh air in her stifled world
yet they tell her it is a crime;
a crime that she will pay for dearly.
Dark eyes under a star studded veil look this way and that
searching, gazing
dreaming of futile things
things she reads only in Mills and Boon.
Clandestine meetings, hurried phone calls
she whispers frantically
afraid that someone will hear,
afraid that she may lose her life.
Betrothed to a man with three wives,
she dreams of escaping her hell-hole
envisioning a new life
a new land
a couple of children maybe
just like in Mills and Boon.
They told her she would pay for it dearly
and the last thing she sees
is the glint of a double-edged sword
and her father's face, contorted with fury.
In a world where honour is paramount
she is nothing,
nothing but a hollow wooden toy.
Graveless, she languishes beneath the ground
and in a sea of black, her red stands out
glowing jewel bright
trickling through
like a teardrop down her pallid face.

and all across the land

they silently cry from within

lamenting over love that was never to be,

their own little secret

burning them inside out like coal.

Forbidden love

that must be silenced, they say.