At a certain point in my life I realized I would never be whole

So I tried to find somebody beautiful in the ways I was not

And then I clung to her and prayed

That we filled in the cracks the other left

We lost you 10 days ago.

On the first day
I had just gotten my old job back
I walked into the main office
And told everyone how nice it was to see them again
Then I went back into my office
And heard you had passed
I flew home that night

On the second day
I tried to rest, recover the sleep I had missed  on the first
I couldn’t
My family wanted to go out to eat
I told them I couldn’t leave my room

On the third day
I got to see the friends we grew up with
Some I hadn’t seen in five years
We sat at a table for four
I kept looking to the open space to my right expecting to see you in a chair

On the fourth day
I bought a suit for your funeral
It had been so long that none i owned fit me
You would’ve thought I looked nice
You would have told me that

On the fifth day
I spent a night in your apartment
Surrounded by people that loved you
Some that loved me
I stood in your room and lingered
Our close friend saw me
We held each other and he showed me all the things in your room you had taken from him
I told him about an orange shirt you had taken from me because it was too large
We pulled out an orange shirt from a pile, thinking we had found it
It was a different shirt

On the sixth day
I got to see your face for the last time
I focused on your hands
because they looked how I remembered
I got to see you be put in the ground
I got to see my first love there
We hadn’t spoken in years
She told me she was married
I told her that was nice to hear
I spoke to your father, he had to be reminded of who I was
He hadn’t seen me since I was 8
But once he remembered
We spoke and we laughed
I spoke to your mother
I thanked her for moving to our town, I thanked her for you
I told her about all the good you brought to my life
She said I did the same for you

I cried that day and every day prior

On the seventh day I bought a flight back to Los Angeles for that night
I spent Mother’s Day with my family
I ate bad Greek food
We had to pull over next to a Wawa for me to use the restroom
I took the flight home
Normally I would have called a taxi but I asked my roommate to pick me up
You had introduced me to him
He used to sublet your room in our old apartment
I told him about the last seven days
I didn’t cry once

On the eighth day
I returned to work
Back for good I told them
I told my boss I ordered shakshuka for lunch because it was the last thing I ate with you
She said  she was considering the chopped salad

On the ninth day
Most of the same things happened
I spoke to the close friend who was still grieving in New York
I told him things would improve once he left the city
I saw my girlfriend who is recovering from a torn acl
She’s prescribed medication to help with her pain
I couldn’t stop asking her why I didn’t feel worse

On the Tenth day
I made a mistake at work
One that will likely never rear its ugly head
It’s the worse i’ve felt in 4 days
Sometimes I wish I could live in the pain I felt when I lost you
There nothing could hurt me
There nothing could be worse
You are gone and each day that passes you will be gone a little longer
And each day I will feel a little better
And I worry I may hate myself for that

We sit beside each other, staring out at the same moon
You motion to leave as I hide the truth, which
is
I'm still trying to hold onto this

I feel each grain of sand between my toes
I'm nostalgic for a moment I'm still in
Yes,
I know I'm rambling

I'd talk til' I am out breath
Still. A moment under the stars can't erase years of bitterness
I
Wish it hadn't come to this

I wish I hadn't had to choose
between losing me or losing you
but
as long as we're here

Can we stay a little longer?

How did you get here?

I drove, don’t really see how that’s relevant.

That’s not what I mean. I mean what led you to come in here today?

I was thinking about Balloons.

Balloons?

Yes.

Would you like to expand on that.

Should I? Sorry, I’m new to this…

Feel free to.

Ok. Balloons. I was thinking about how you never see a balloon in a bad place. Whether it’s a birthday or a celebration or whatever, if there are balloons around people are happy. They’re fun too, you can knock them around in the air, or **** in the helium and your voice gets all funny. But I uh was thinking about how they’ve come to sort of symbolize happiness for us. Like they’re just bits of latex and nylon filled with helium or air, nothing special. Why not lamps? Or wine glasses, or some other inanimate object. But no we settled on balloons and somehow everyone agreed that if balloons are around you should be smiling. So I guess sort of the inverse is true, like if you’re around a bunch of balloons and you’re not happy you must really be depressed. So I’m standing there at my niece’s third birthday and she’s a great kid by the way, really ******* smart too in a way that you just know she’s gonna be something some day. So I’m standing there ya know surrounded by balloons and my wonderful niece and I’m ******* miserable, like I’m telling you I wanted to ******* blow my brains out. And I’m thinking, ****, I should  probably go to therapy. Does that answer the question?

Yes. yes it does.

People only like you when it's convenient,
true
People only like you when it's convenient
to.
Not your family,
true
but only them because they have
to.
Don't laugh at this you know it's
true
They're not with you when you need them
to.
When you're dark and cold and stormy,
true
They cheer for the islands they're whisked away
to.

Even you,
true
The one I was there for, when you needed me
to.
Even when I didn't want to be,
true
I would have scaled a thousand mountains
to
Get to you.
True.
I guess it never mattered
to
you.
True.
You say you'll be there for me, but I don't trust you
to.

When you left silently
it reminded me
why it seems to be
I don't revise my poetry