Leave when the sky is loud but the sidewalk is quiet.
When the door clicks shut like it’s keeping a secret,
don’t flinch.
Let your hands hang heavy,
the silence has its own grip.
Take only what fits in your chest,
you’ll be shocked what doesn’t.
Use only what won’t puncture your lungs.
(Even breath can betray you.)
Don’t check the mirror.
It lies loudest when you’re quiet.
If you must cry, do it in motion.
Stillness makes grief cocky,
then it hands you a mirror labeled “proof”
and waits.
Let the memory bruise.
Don’t label it.
Names are spells.
Closure’s a mirage
that waves from the distance
and never once turns around.
When the day feels unbearable,
bear it.
Not because you’re strong—
because you’re stubborn
and still here.
By month three,
his name will taste like static.
By month six,
you’ll forget the exact color of his laugh.
And by month twelve—
you’ll mistake the whole thing for a metaphor.
You’ll almost be right.
But even metaphors
break skin.
Memory crusts,
but it never closes.
for when you finally go and don't look back
