Shrapnel

All those years ago,
I bent light a little bit
spoke truth through water

refracted and diverged
a million rays, saving us
from the single slick arrow

so you wouldn’t have to live
with a hole burned
through your heart

I wouldn’t have to live
with one seared
on my conscience.

What would you have preferred,
I wonder now. Me, I’m still
picking out the shrapnel.