The Hollow Echo of the Pact​

Issue 13

The parchment crisp, a solemn vow we swore,
A pact of progress, painted on the floor
Of hallowed chambers, where the light was grim,
A shared ambition, fueled by fervent hymn.
We built a ladder, rung by careful rung,
Each hand in mine, the future to be sung.
 
But in the shadows, a different seed took root,
A creeping doubt, a calculating loot.
The whispered bargains, meetings held unseen,
A web of power, where I'd merely been
A useful pawn, a stepping stone, it seems,
To fuel ambition's insatiable dreams.
 
The mirror shifts, reflecting back to me,
A face I know, yet twisted violently.
The man I trusted, with his placid smile,
Now a predator, walking through the aisle,
His words like daggers, honed on hidden strife,
Evaporating the shared vision, and taking my old life.

My mind revolts, a battlefield within,
Where logic clashes, with the hurt and sin.
The rational facade, I'd built so high,
Crumbles to dust, beneath a mournful cry.
The public image, a carefully crafted mask,
Shatters to pieces, an impossible task
To reconcile the betrayal's cruel sting,
With the naive trust I foolishly did bring.

It wasn't just ambition, raw and stark,
It was the hollow echo of the pact,
The violation of the sacred trust we shared,
The cynical dismissal, how little he cared
For the dream we nurtured, the goals we did pursue,
He discarded those, for something new.

And so I stand, amidst the wreckage now,
A solitary figure, I don't know how
To navigate the landscape, fractured and torn,
The legacy of betrayal, forever to be born.

Will I, can I, ever truly trust again?
Or am I doomed to watch, the charade of men,
Each seeking power, with a ruthless, cold embrace,
While leaving the betrayed, in this devastating space.

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Plamen Vasilev is an  award-winning freelance writer/poet with published works online and in various US magazines. He has been writing since he was 10. He has won numerous writing contests and have awards from different parts of the world.   He is a creative person with big dreams and also love to help people.

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