That you have taken her from me

That you have taken her from me
while I loved her truly
as if she was from marriage free
as if she could belong to you duly.

It is not just an insincere thing
but to do so under the cloak of friendship
is something that pierces with its sting
like being sacrilegious during worship.

You did something ungodly
and smiling knifed me from behind,
never were your intentions to be kind
and gladly you acted mercilessly, even deadly:

Hers, by falling for you and by being to me untrue.
Yours, by giving me what wasn’t due.

[References: Sonnets 41 & 42 “Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits” and “That thou hast her it is not all my grief” by William Shakespeare.]

poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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