You didn’t know

You look at her portrait and think
   those eyes are so alive
   that’s what makes this painting work
but her eyes are dead
   as anyone can see
the light died long ago
   long before you met
Why didn’t you know?
   Because the painting worked,
   because of the wound in your heart and
   the slow cold burn in your head, because...
everything ends in silence

-January 17, 2008-