Does she see her face
In his glasses,
And does he see her as his reflection?

Eventually you stop looking at each other
And start looking at this third person
In your relationship named "Marriage".
They're an unconfident,
Sensitive being,
And they demand a lot of attention.

If he reached his hands out,
Would he reach her?
Or would he be reaching for Marriage?

"I'm trying to fix our marriage."
"I want to fight for our marriage."
"We need to work hard for our marriage."
Like Marriage is some sort of pet
In your dysfunctional relationship.

Marriage is a verb,
Not a noun.
I want to see you all push aside this invisible
Idea,
This pet,
This person,
This thing you put before
Your best friend for life.

Fight for him.
Fight for her.
Don't fight for an illusion,
Live out your vows,
And your actions.
Don't just scream them at each other.

At the end of the day,
Who are you spending time with?
Him?
Her?
or Marriage?

I've seen traces of you,
Perhaps smelt a hint of your
Perfume...
Seen your curling
Handwriting,
Other woman.

Did you see the startling red
Of our front door?
The crumbling plaster
Of the walls climbing next to the stairs?
Did you partake of the lingering smell
Of my mother's baking?
Did you feel the bright purple
Cotton sheets
On my parent's bed?

What did he tell you,
Other woman?
That he couldn't leave because
Of his kids?
That he'd marry you if he could?
Did you dream of being our
Mother,
Other
Woman?

Your finger prints
Are somewhere here.
Your ghost is woven into
The carpet,
I bet I could find it
If I wanted to...

Other woman,
I'm sorry he lied to you.

Climbing

D
O
W
N

A rope
an ancient plastic
rope

Tiny pieces come off
stick to your hands
to your fingers
and your palms
they itch

Makes a
scratchy
scritchy
noise
rubbing against your jeans
as you
slide

D
O
W
N

here and there
there's a knot
stop and rest
sit
for a second
not the best
but it's all you've got,
start climbing again
You can't stay there
forever.

Lose your grip
slide

D
O
W
N

Too fast
your hands burn
red
so do your legs,
your cheek scrapes against
the rope
it feels like it's on fire.

Brace yourself
for more pain
squeeze
your fingers tight
so you can slow
you scream
in agony
but you've stopped.

You reached
another knot
look down at your hands
and bite your lip
hard
******,
salty,
taste.
One by one
little blisters
newly forming
dotted
across
your palms
throbbing.

Continue
your
journey

C
L
I
M
B
I
N
G

D
O
W
N

A

R
O
P
E

Staying up all night
traveling
is normal now
you've learned to ignore
fatigue

You don't even look

D
O
W
N

Anymore

You've accepted this
as your life
Never ending
Pull of gravity
Calling you to
It

You notice you've hit
A knot again
You sit
But something feels
Odd
You glance down for
The first time in months
Startled by what
Greets you

Below you
Is a hangman's noose

So you've reached
The end of your rope.

my life is like a stopwatch
just tallying up the time
i choose the downward spiral
over that vertical climb

i tried to go the mile
to keep up with my kind
i lasted just a while
then i fell behind

when my descent is final
who knows what i might find
maybe the top is topnotch
but the bottom is all mine