You promised! It might have been the loudest thing I ever said in that classroom. It bounced off the walls. You promised. They said Say your lines And I tried But it was chaos And I wrote you a poem in screams That will never be published And in that moment I uncovered the truth- That you will see stages. You will see packed audiences and intimate theaters You will see rehearsal spaces and ballet mirrors. I will write you poems in screams and tears And love scenes Across my entire life. You promised! My lines became my voice And I spoke to your ghost in the air before me. Nobody could hear that my words had slipped Into new ones Because they were all slipping too, Lost in their own grief, And I had my time with you To ask you why In anger To beg you not to go In fear To say You promised With anguish And let it bounce off the walls. You, lover, You will see stages You will move audiences. You will fill my soul like you did today And it will finally bring somebody other than me To their knees.