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And my heart wept that day,
shuddering under your indifference,
an icicle slowly meandering its way down my neck
to melt, so cold, in the arch of my back.

But I hid those words,
oh those dreaded words you'd not yet spoken,
those words I did not want to hear,
burning acid, scorching the insides of my stomach,
each syllable a knot tightening, crushing my neck.

And then one morning,
those words came out and struck me down,
just three words, "I met another",
three simple words, yet so powerful,
carrying along each letter the weight of finality,
the end of a life as I had known it,
my loud banging on a door being nailed shut.

Words, while still hidden deep within you,
let me bathe in the caressing waters of maybes,
but once spilled from your mouth,
drowned me under their crashing wave,
words that sucked the air from my lungs,
as I spiraled deep under each vowel, each consonant,
to resurface gasping, trying to grasp fresh breath.


© Naomi Sara 2022