She makes me stop and turn my head from where I was headed.

I hear the cries. She needs me.

But, where I was headed was important.

I was needed there too.

She wins.

Later, I’d know she would always win.

She makes me eat my words and do all that I dreaded,

to keep her fear away. She bleeds me.

What life she gave me was shortened.

What others saw was true.

Pain begins.

Later, I would lie with her alone in the rain.