Work Text:
.
"Don't leave me," she said,
with her shining face upturned,
drawing me into the cradle
of her dark and brightling eyes.
And because we were almost there,
almost there,
I gave in and agreed.
"No," I answered her.
"I won't leave you."
But when we set foot on the shore,
I looked out across that land
and realized:
This was not the country
I'd set out for.
And later, looking down
upon her sleeping face,
I suddenly saw what I had done.
It was panic,
I admit that now,
that made me leave her there,
dreaming like a sculpture
cast of ocean wrack and sand,
panic at the weight and depth of love.
For she was a princess,
and I?
I was just an adventurer.
How could I have
taken care of her?
.