I've watched you
through these years
give yourself away

It happened slowly,
nearly unnoticed
like a slight faucet drip
with every forced smile
you handed away small
pieces of yourself

I wonder if
you felt
it was a worthy
compromise?

sometimes still
I search you
for that lost spark
of what once was

I can't help but
remember
when your eyes
held hope and dreams
instead of the scathing
sadness of regret.

~Eric Vance Walton~