Drowned in battery acid.

The look on his face was placid.

My heart felt no remorse.

Not until I knew the source.

I killed him. Cold blood.

I turned my head from the sticky flood.

I walked away and realized my fate.

I murdered him. A previous date.

I cried in fear- what would happen to me?

My life would be followed by misery.

So would his; I stole his chance.

I took his life, without romance.

Then he was back, but not the same.

He could hardly speak his name.

His eyes sealed shut, his lip curled up.

Each word bounced out like a small hiccup.

Half gone was his brain- once his best feature.

Half broken was the face of this once-loved creature.

It stuttered and slurred, unaware of its loss.

I trembled as hair covered its eyes like moss.

I feared he was forever gone, and with my friends we prayed

That he would be free from this- a new man made.

We found his old strengths- hidden behind his face.

He still kept math at the same fast pace.

His deep thoughts were gone- along with his past.

No one else knew of his history vast.

I alone could see through his brokenness.

I alone knew what had become of this.

As I wandered about in my fear, he followed.

He laid down beside me as I shook and wallowed.

He was himself again, though perhaps just a ghost.

He looked like the man that I wanted the most.

He laid down beside me and spoke with deep meaning.

Can’t say what he said- I’m no longer dreaming.

I believe it was something like, “That wasn’t me.

I’m here as myself. This is only a dream.”

Back to reality, I know he’s not dead.

I know that his lips sit up right on his head.

I know I don’t murder and would never kill him.

But I still get chills from a dream so grim.

Perhaps it has meaning- I’m letting go.

I’ll kill that affection that tied me so.

Must it be brutal? The answer is yes.

The pain it will bring, words cannot express.