In the beginning, there was Us.

Sometimes I thought that my smile would blind people,

It burned so brightly for you.

And nothing touched me more

Than when you whispered forever into my ear

I knew you better than anyone-

I thought I knew you better than anyone.

And I remember holding on tightly to your heartstrings:

They tethered me to you

But nobody warned me about the rope burn

That rubbed my palms raw when you left

I couldn’t let you go, and it stung.

 

For too long, I couldn’t get the taste of salt out of my mouth

My favorite meals were covered with the acrid tang of helplessness

And for the first time in a year I was alone.

My pen wouldn’t stop breathing your name and I tried to suffocate it-

Over and over and over again

But I ended up choking on the words I needed to say

So I screamed, laying my out my despair on the hood of your over-heated car

The steering wheel always shook when you drove over fifty miles an hour

And I too began to shiver with the speed at which I began leaving you behind

Finally.

 

I searched the world for places you had never touched

And I found sanctuary at the top of a mountain,

Breathing hard and standing silhouetted against the thin, crackling air

I was stronger than I believed, and I trailed my fingers through the sky

 

I began to scale park gazebos and I sang Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of my lungs

I bought large Cokes and drank every last drop- I didn’t have to share the straw

I wore tight dresses because I liked the way the sequins sent shards of light bouncing off the sidewalk in front of me

And on the 180th day  I said “let there be life”

So now I live- alone, free, strong, powerful-

And it is good.