Picking up the telephone to hear your voice
always comes as a shock.
It's so familiar
and yet so different.
You sound the same
but your honey-sweet words
seem to wrap around my throat
and make it impossible for me to speak.
A strangled cry the only thing
to escape my lips.

And then there's silence on the other end
as you realize that these words
don't settle warmly throughout me
like they used to just a short time ago.

Easy laughter no longer follows
your charming quips
and it makes you uncomfortable.
So you quickly make your excuses
and say your goodbyes
because we both know
that you won't stand to suffer.

And as I hang up
I try to remember the exact moment
when the air shifted
and we suddenly became strangers.

And I wonder where you've gone to.