We both existed on the same tuesday,
in the same area of space, I expected you in your striped shirt and smile
you expected me in my whole contrasting aura and existence
but on this day we switched roles
and it was because you weren’t looking well
so I asked why
and it was because your mother was in the hospital
I didn’t want to say I was sorry. Not because I didn’t mean it, but because how could you fall in love with someone who used such cliches.
I considered settling perfume on the nape of my neck and enveloping you in a sympathetic hug.
I meditated on the words “it’s really all okay”.
I wondered what your girlfriend had to say on the matter.
and what I could say that would mean more to you.
I never thought
infatuation
could make me less of a person
than I already was.