I knew I was ready to forgive you
When I wrenched the knife from my back
I held it up high
and it cast a menacing shadow
over the face of the young man in front of me.
Its shiny metal gleamed and glistened.
I stood heaving
and the veins in my face erupted
like tree branches gnarled into the forest floor.
I held the weapon
retrieved from my own back.
I gripped it once,
twice,
and then

I put it down.