Antonio Dias (Hamilton, Ontario)

So close, yet so far away.
It hurts to not be with you,
But the closer I get,
The more the pain seems to flourish.
I try to elude the black hole
That is our relationship,
But it is hopeless, because
I cannot escape your pull
On the rope that binds us;
A rope that will never wear, never break;
A rope that will burn me for eternity.

I cannot be with you
Because I will only suffer the pain
That you created.
I cannot be without you,
For then, I will have an empty hole inside of me
That only you can fill.
So I'm stuck in the middle;
In the middle of With or Without,
Where the pain is least great;
Where I am in neither Heaven nor Hell;
Where there is a black hole on one side,
Pulling me in,
And a rope on the other,
Pulling me away.
Neither side wins,
Leaving me dangling between,
Hoping that I don't fall
Into the black pit that looms below.