Red Flags

she was the worst
of a long list of mistakes
I've made
with women. ignoring all
the red flags,
the feeling in my gut,
that had already surmised
what was to come.

she took the winning prize
for ill behavior,
deceit and lies.
playing the victim.
always pretending to be good.

she was not unlike the others,
but she turned it up to the nth
degree.

it was all about image.
how she looked
in the mirror,
how she appeared in other's
eyes.

what lie beneath the surface
was rarely seen.
who she really was
stayed hidden behind a mask.
always, and it still does.

If people only knew
the darkness that lies
within her. the lack of empathy
and conscience. the unfixable
sickness of her mind.

I saw it. I feared for my
life.
I ran, I screamed. I nearly
died.