I release you, my loved and hated

doubt. I release you. You were the one

I clung to and recoiled from, but now, I see

your true self. I release you with all the

uncertainty I have known since you melded to

my heart.

You are not my beating heart anymore.

I send you back to your dark shadows

that haunt my thoughts, cause my nightmares,

make me lose my light and beauty.

I force you back to your brothers and sisters

who cheer on your deception.

I renounce you, doubt, because you nurture

my demons and force me to embrace you

and the hope you inspire.

I flee you, doubt, so you can no longer

hold me to your icy chest, my knowledge

of the future swathed in winter's deception.

I release you

I flee you

I betray you

I don't doubt that you love me.

I don't doubt that I can't reciprocate.

I  don't doubt that you want to protect me.

I don't doubt that I want to be vulnerable.

I don't doubt that you'll always be loyal.

I don't doubt that I fear your devotion.

I don't doubt that you need me to live.

I don't doubt that I need you, too, I need you, I need you, doubt.

Oh, you have strangled me, but I put your hands on my neck.

You have drained me, but I put your lips on my mouth.

You have consumed me, but I laid myself before you.

I take myself back, doubt.

You are not my lover any longer.

I won't hold your hand.

You can't corrupt my eyes, my ears, my voice,

my mind, or my heart my heart

But come here, doubt

I have found clarity and you don't believe you ever will

Inspired by Joy Harjo's "I Give You Back"

Thrice, the watching towers knelled

to warn of strange ships off the shore;

Twice, the hooded smiths did weld

the crown the sons of Cazmus wore;

Once, the sacred tree was felled

from ancient seeding long before.

Never now can hate be quelled

in lands condemned to endless war.

Never now can hope be spelled

by lips which spat the vows they swore.

Never now can an ax withheld

atone, or the sacred tree restore.

Never now,

Forevermore.

There, where once the moonlark dwelled,

seek not respite from soul-dark gore.

There, where once the fireleaf smelled

so sweet, find ought but fest’ring sore.

Never leave here.

Most abhor

the thrice-damned lost who’d dare explore.

Never breach the vaulted door.

Never now,

Forevermore.

**Inspired by the poetry in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of Rings series, especially the opening epigraph regarding the rings. This is my crack at using his style and a few of his themes to do some fantasy world-building and narrative exposition.