Harlequinade

Harlequin - clown or buffoon, a mute character in a play or pantomime.

Harlequin lovers, tearing each other apart in their hatred and neglect.
But surely it wasn't always like this?
No, i know there was love there once; and i believe there is love there still, for only out of love is that most intense of hatreds born;
And where has all the happiness gone?
I know not when it dried up, only that it did; and although it shines through from time to time, her smile has largely deserted her;
A wasteland separates them measured only in inches;
And though the sounds of their voices may fail to cross the distance;
He can see himself reflected in her eyes, and he tries to drown it by his own hands;
For he hates, too, what he sees, and it hurts him to see her pain;
And she takes it;
Because she knows, when her voice finally crosses that ocean, dripping with the salts that sting all the more as they slice into his heart, that she hurts him more than he ever will her;
Because she knows him like no-one else;
Because sometimes words will cause more pain than sticks and stones ever will;
And though wounds to the flesh may heal;
Though they may leave a scar;
You know now where you stand, in their eyes;
You know how deep these feelings run;
And though forgiveness may come, that doubt remains in the back of your mind;
Whispering dark truths in your ear;
Forgiveness is their lie;
Because you know;
You know what lies beneath;
And they stay together;
As surely as they tear themselves apart;
Because there was love there once, which i believe is still there;
Twisted and contorted though it may be;
And they stay together;
Because with each other they know where they stand.