If I do this for you,
if I take the chance,
are you going to hurt me?

If I let you in,
love you
like I loved him,
are you going to tear me apart?
Limb from limb

If I hold your hands,
kiss your lips,
are you going to taste
of her?

If I warm your bed,
wait on you,
will you join me,
reeking
of another woman
and her cheap perfume?

If I trust you,
believe in you,
are you going to deceive me
just
like
him?

- Hannah Jo, 2009

Labels: heartbreak, him, lies, love

I love you
despite all the awful things
you do
... to yourself,
... to your friends,
... even to me.

Despite
your words
that scar,
that hurt.

Despite the lies
you tell,
that I pretend to believe.

Despite the late nights
with the guys,
When you come home,
back to my bed,
reeking of her.

I love you,
despite the awful things
you do.

But I love myself
more than that.

- Hannah Jo, 2009

Labels: awful things, despite, hurt, lies, love

You lie
and I willingly listen,
play make-believe.
Trick myself
into seeing love
and devotion
where there is nothing.

- Hannah Jo, 2009

Labels: lie, lies, loss, love

"I'm sorry,"
your false apology
rings in my ears.
"I didn't mean to hurt you"

You think that
automatically gets you off the hook?
For everything else?
You think that’s good enough?

Two little words,
whispered over a static phone line,
are supposed to atone
for all the damage done.

Supposed to repair
years of hurt,
dry the tears
I cried over you.

Honey, that may have worked
in the past
but no more.

I'm through with this,
Because I finally realize
I'm worth far more
than broken promises
and whispered lies.

- Hannah Jo, 2009

Labels: apology, break-up, heartbreak, lies, worth

My grandfather lied to my grandmother. I guess it runs in the family. My father also lied to my mother. Yet, I seem to be the only enlightened member of the family. Due to my avid curiosity, I come across many family secrets, including those that should have remained hidden. For you see, the men in my family apparently have a tendency to wander.
During my younger years, I greatly enjoyed wandering the vastness of my grandparents' attic and exploring the many trunks and crates. I uncovered may great treasures here, as well as the love letters from Elizabeth Rogers, dated long after my grandparents had wed.
My father's secret came in the form of a phone call. A young woman, Eloise Bryant, calling my father, asking him to give her away. The query was quite puzzling, because while I knew the young woman, I didn't know her bond with my father.
Eloise was my half-sister, but everyone thought she was my cousin. I remembered vaguely the scandal behind her pregnancy, because she claimed Eloise's father was unknown. But the idea that her father and mine were one and the same was completely alien.
It would seem that the many "business" trips my father journeyed on, were not actually for business. He had secretly been raising two families.

- Hannah Jo 2009

Labels: adultery, cheating, liar, lie, lies, lying, secret