when do you know it's time to let go? when
the words stop coming and the smiles
don't start in your eyes anymore?
or perhaps when you find
the void between you has become
too wide, too vast, too
hard to fill, and you're left
too scared to try.
an accepted silence, more comfortable than struggling
to avoid wrong words. small, uncertain, hesitant steps
across a shaky bridge. i'm afraid to cross another inch
when you won't budge towards me at all. i feel myself
losing my balance, and i turn to run. but there's something
about your face, the way you stare at me with those
liquid eyes.
i can't let go, knowing i'm leaving a haunted creature behind.
i turn my back to you, but my conscience
snaps my head around. nervously.
guiltily. and maybe -
regretfully.
compelled to reach out to you, do anything at all
to somehow heal your pain.
the scars stood out starkly
against unblemished skin, but who was i to comment?
i didn't even know you, i didn't know what to say
that might have made a difference.
afraid to assume, because it makes an ass
out of you and me. and a bigger one of me.
which sin is greater,
that of speaking when silence is golden, or
remaining aloof when words can bridge the gap?
you smiled as we said goodbye
but really, i had nothing to say, except maybe
i'm sorry.
even then the words
caught in my throat
and i turned away
again.