Ernest Hemingway once said to write hard and clear about what hurts
what he didn't say
was how hard it would be
to write about the raw feeling my heart would get
when you ripped your part away
and he did not speak of how difficult it would be
to choke back everything
and leave it for the night sky to listen to my broken cries for you

he never mentioned in that quote
what it would be like to find you with another
and how i'd have to feign happiness
when all i saw around me was blackness
and how when i saw you for the first time
after the storm
you'd look at me like i was a foreigner
someone who never kissed your lips
or touched your skin
and while my fingertips burned with recognition of the soft yet hard skin of you
you turned the other cheek, the one i kissed endlessly

when i read that quote
i thought long and hard about what hurts
and the first thought that came to me
was you
it will always be you