Whatever compelled me to entertain you,
Compels me no more.
The space between us rang out so hollow in those mere moments.
You spoke,
Mockingly,
Fastened, folded, bankrupt of emotions.
Sadness bubbled,
Deepened,
Arced like a pounding bass drum.
From a place so anxious,
Rose a well.
Strung out,
Unglued.
Without a lid to siphon its flow,
A single tear fell.
It remained suspended.
I never wanted to feel like this again I told myself.
I let you overwhelm me.
You rambled,
Registering incoherent,
A string of vacuous and arrogant idioms.
I processed your frigid words.
Raising my trembling hands to mask the gasp,
The hurried and heavy breathing.
This is panic.
This is the initial stages of heartbreak.
Flashes of past,
Flashes of future,
Conditioned by your hollowed out heart.
Protect myself,
Is my instinct.
Singular responses as artillery.
Silence as armour.
You rush to fill the gaps,
Knowing where your footsteps have taken you.
Not mis-steps,
Footsteps.
We now stand at a critical impasse.
Reciprocated,
Walls raise.
The mind becomes willfully silent,
Tongue sharpens.
This is how I hurt you.
Denying everything I once held true of us.
Overwhelmed,
Dissolving,
Fasten my heart.
The piercing chill of our dissolution,
As my grip loosens.
Dial tone.
With a vacant,
An expressionless,
A dull set of eyes,
I shut out the distance.
