A stranger.
A stranger lies in front of me
but he didn't used to be one.
This stranger used to look at me
but now he looks at no one.
He used to talk and laugh with me
and hold me when I've broken,
but now our bond is shattered
and words remain unspoken.
I look at this stranger
with longing and regret,
Why did it have to be this way?
It's like we hadn't ever met.

There is nothing that I recognize
about this stranger that I see
He looks the same, speaks the same
but there's hardly familiarity.
He doesn't have the spirit
that urged me when I struggled
Nor the warmth and understanding
when I melt into a puddle.
There's no happiness in his eyes
no matter how hard he tries.
Instead he found new outlets
as his soul inside dies.

The man I used to know
is nowhere to be found
instead this stranger takes his place,
I cannot make a sound.
This stranger looks at me
without emotion
and departs with one swift motion.
But the clock is ticking
as I am picking
the pieces of my heart off the floor.

I walk along these cracked streets
Taking in every crevice, every patch
And cannot help but admire
its character throughout time.

By night, the rain fills in the openings between the asphalt
By day, the sun rises and the water fades away,
And I cannot help but understand
that this cracked street and I have a lot in common
as I look inward and consider
all of the cracks
in my own being.

Some nights, the tears flow, mingling betwixt the cracks
in my heart and soul
flowing without direction.
Most days, the sun rises
and by that point everything within has dried.
There's no real point in fixing me,
because like the road that I walk upon,
there are simply too many cracks for people to pave.

It's not a particularly bad thing,
I've just accepted it and continued on.
After all,
I admire this old street for its character,
and so too must others do for me.

In the silence,
your absence echoes
off of every surface.

The water
from the faucet
mimics the open
veins in my chest.

Filling the empty gap
where my heart
once was.

It's sickly splatter
pools in the basin
and pours into
the darkness.

Draining
into the void.

*How did it come to this?