And one day...
The ones you thought would
never leave
will slowly step away,
like waves of the ocean
drifting back and forth,
moving further from shore
upon each return.
And you will learn true loneliness,
and that the unspoken promises
are often never kept.
You will learn true solitude,
and that you must enjoy the ride,
even when there's no one in
your passenger seat.

I don’t want you to see me like this.
I don’t want you to see me.
I don’t want you to see.
I don’t want you to.
I don’t want you.
I don’t want.
I don’t.

Nobody else matters.
Nobody else.
Nobody.

You’ve become the
subject in every portrait,
the focus in every picture,
the lines in every poem.
Every song, somehow,
sounds like it’s about you.

I saw you for the first time.
My eyes and my mind agreed on forever.
Well a couple of decades of us being together.
I walked slowly towards you and started to stumble.
Thinking of something smooth to say because you’re a bag I can’t afford to fumble.
If I were honest I’d tell you that you put a lock on my eyes and gave my legs amnesia.
I would treat you like we’re in the 90s and scream “I need ya”.
Or make you an omelette in the morning like I’m Darius and you’re Nina and life is Love Jones.
Normally I don’t get sprung at first sight but right now I’m imagining what our kids would look like with your hair and my complexion.
I imagine you yelling at me for bringing a used dish right after you finish washing.
I’m convinced that you’ll wipe my memory clean, erase the thought of anyone I was with before you.
Butterflies go down into my stomach as I clear my throat.
“Heyy, how are you?” I say.
A man comes and grabs you by the waist from behind as you smile.
“Hey. Can I help you?”
Those words, bullets aiming for the butterflies, shot dead and I feel the need to find a place to bury them.
“Uhm, yes. Where’s the bathroom?”

I want you but I don't want all of you.
I like you but I don't like all of you.
Your flaws; I want to embrace them but they are what I will fail to see.
I would put a canvas on the wall and paint you with only colours that appeal to me.
Unless you give me an opportunity to peal off the layers of your personality.
Discover your depth.
Get to know you from the outside in.
I'm always curious to find out how deep the deep end is.
Now this curiosity has me drowning in water I never learned how to swim in. But you could save me.
You could push me back to the shallow end or
you could teach me how to swim in the waters of you.
You could dismiss me as a stranger or...
You could teach me about what makes you you.

Arms, open but never held.
Hearts, stolen and mistreated.
Poems, written but never read.
Secrets, uncovered but never shared.
Words: thought of but never spoken.
Actions: examined but never taken.
Opportunities, recognized but never exploited.
Love.
Discovered but never explored.