Stages of Betrayal

I.
She stood in the doorway of what used to be
her sanctuary,
watching in horrified silence -
her presence concealed by the guttural
moans and sighs -
as her husband of five years engaged himself
conjugally with another woman.
She gasped,
he came with an ejaculation of "I love you,"
and a sob escaped her, finally
alerting the couple to the fact that they were not alone.

II.
She glanced down at the ring line embedded on her fourth finger,
absently rubbing the crease in her skin
as tears slipped down her face.
One year to the day, and still
the lacerations to her heart and ability to trust
were festering sores.
The divorce finalized, he remarried his lover
immediately.
And now they were expecting a child -
something she never could have given him.

III.
When they found out,
he'd told her it didn't matter;
had said there was more than one way
to have a family.
He had promised he still loved her,
swore he still wanted her and
didn't think any less of her.
He told her all the right things,
all the while suspecting he was lying.

IV.
Two years to the day she came home
to their marriage ended,
she sat silently on her balcony
examining the broken pieces of her life
and wondering how it had been so easy for him
to let go,
to move on,
when she was barely dragging by.
She still saw him sometimes -
in a town their size, it would be impossible not to -
and he seemed so happy with his life
after her.
With a wife and daughter;
with a son on the way.
He looked good in his new life;
a life he never would have had with her.

V.
It was with a heavy and beaten heart
that she made her choice.
She sat at her desk,
wrote and addressed three notes,
drank her tea,
then went up to sleep.

VI.
He cried when he heard the news -
great, heaping sobs that shook his body
and tears
stained the last note she'd written.
She gave him only three words,
but in giving him that, gave him so much more.
With those three words she relieved him of the guilt he'd been carrying around.
All she said -
"I forgive you."

C. 2014 S. Sieglaff

***It has been a REALLY long time since I've written any poetry, much less posted anything on here. I welcome any feedback, as I'm not entirely sure this is finished, or that I even like it. :)