As You Were

Don't try to change a man.
That's what they say.  
Never expect it.  That won't be the way.  

But, guess who did?
Looks like you did. 
 
Just what you were
could not tempt her
to stay.

Backchannels have been blocked,
safe rooms collapsed. 
Evacuation is the cure, perhaps.

Where could I go?
No place I know. 

In seconds an
eternity
elapsed. 

Hints of you, they glimmer.
For a moment I can smile. 
Then, the shadow fills in
all the flaws that
catch the light. 
Unfamiliar eyes are
staring back from the canals. 
My home is not here. It
was dismantled
in the night. 

You didn't need saving.
You weren't a sin.
You solved the riddle, just as you were then.

Who has this right?
I think I might,

but you're gone.  It's
too late to ask
again.