The Hands That Once Held Yours. Poem by Carl R Nicolas

Betrayal does not come from strangers.
It comes from the hands that once held yours...

Family… friends…
voices that once spoke comfort,
now echo with judgment.

Their words fall like nails,
sharp, cold, unexpected,
piercing deeper than any wound
the world could give.

when I am already on the cross of life,
they turn away…
they abandon…
they crucify what they once called love.

Hurt from those close to you is more painful than pain from strangers, acting as 'nails' that pierce the heart...similar to the spiritual betrayal suffering Jesus experienced when humanity (those he loved) crucified him.

I stand wounded...yes,
but awakened to a painful truth:
the deepest scars
are not given by enemies,
but by those
we never believed capable
of holding the hammer...
Carl Nicolas.