If only
he would have
kept his mouth
shut
swallowed back the words
that should have
never been said aloud.
They would have
or at least
could have
found their place
in a different
configuration
twisted themselves
into each other
or
dissolved
altogether.
Instead he spit them out
blurted them
and they
lashed out
with slicing metal edges
all their own
as they
burned
stung
and viciously
tore apart
the sweet, starry petals
that had once been
in front of him.