I knew you once

I knew the gaps between your teeth
The spaces between your eyelashes
The scratched up map
On your back that showed me
Where you’ve been
And where you still longed to go

I knew the cracks in your lips
The carvings in your skin
The dreams that you projected
On the wall as you slept
I collected those unconscious seeds
And planted them in my garden

I knew the vessels in your heart
The adhesive bonds of your molecules
I witnessed the expansions and contractions
Building to an existential crisis
I saw the moment of realization
That logic may be irrelevant in such situations

I watched as you fled to that forsaken land
Between your heart and your head
In the back of your throat
To keep you from saying anything more
And you stayed there
Until you became a stranger

But I knew you once