And he said,
as his last words
of farewell,
“You are very keen on me.”

You’re right.
I was keen when you
told me that you saw me as your wife.

I was too keen
when you wanted my father’s number.

I was too keen when you
whispered you loved me,
bragging that you
vocalised first
what I thought I felt.

I never imagined a word
could be so taunting.
Now engraved
in eyes I once admired
for their kindness.

But oh, how I wish
I could clean my
mind from the last words
I heard you utter,
the way I cleaned my white
Converse
from the mud of our first hike
by pouring bleach,
soaking bleach.

You said
I was keen on you.

I guess bleach would also
remove words from your mouth

I was sleepy around you.
The atoms inside me
stood still.

You read me
without the pages
of any book.

And I loved you
in my simple,
twelve-year-old way.

Silly heart,
You opened the door
Again

You promised this time
You would be More careful
With the guest list

Try and remember
They are only
just visitors

This one

Has you thinking
About coffee pills
And the smell of
Rain from your
Hometown

He even learned
new ways to
Light up your soul

But too late
Too long heart

Brain has learned
To take over

There are moments
that have imprinted in my mind
that will long surpass
when my body goes

It is adjusting to me, knowing
that I feel the shift in the temperament of a room,

the moments when
my body knew long before my mind
that my heart was safe

Walking me back through the dark corridor
and yet I did not call it love then

When you hid the
terrible taste of the ice cream,
I felt myself turn into
a kid
curious, I wanted to taste it too

And then all you asked
was for me to repeat
myself, because you
interrupted me

An empath will never call it love,
but my heart found home with you


But one year later,
as I’m
driving
down a dark lane
lost, my thoughts distracting me
from reading the signs
it was not to you
that my heart looked for
Safety

Princess.
He called me that
after two days
of talking.

Sorry, Mr. Prince Charming—
nicknames are for those
who know my soul,
or who’ve seen me tear up
at Harry Potter.

Mr. Prince Charming replied
he had advice
“for my future.”

Not all emotional intelligence
needs to be shared.
But I stayed quiet.

“You should try to be more open,”
he said
to the girl
who pours her heart out
when the key of a smile
is turned