Content warning: Strong language and references to physical intimacy and emotional distress.
- Everything will start in February
- I’m going to pick you up in my car
- You’ll get the address wrong
- But we’ll find each other and laugh trying to make the anxiety go away
- You’ll look really nice
- I will get us to the bar you choose
- You’re going to pick up the first round of beers
- And the second one as well
- The nerves slowly disappear
- I’ll wonder why it feels so natural to talk to you
- I’ll tell you all about the hospital
- You’ll be ashamed of it
- But you are going to tell me it’s ok
- Of course, because this feels real
- While stumbling to your car I’ll get the feeling we could talk about anything
- I’ll look into your eyes and realize they are pulling me in
- It is as if you’re looking into a masterpiece
- And for a few brief moments that is exactly what it is
- We kiss, it will simply feel…
- Inevitable
- I will want you to hold me closer
- You will occupy a space in my mind
- It will feel like an eternity
- I’ll let you drive my car
- I am way too drunk to be behind this wheel
- But you will do your best
- In the end, you’ll even compliment me
- We kiss goodnight
- We talk every day after that
- You’ll make me feel like a teenager again
- I’ll stay out too late
- I’ll start waking up around noon
- We’ll share a few too many cigarettes
- We kiss in between every single one
- Then there will be that day…
- The one where we’ll watch the city landscape at night
- You’ll take me there
- It’s all because I want to take you some place special
- It’s a high point in the city
- We blast music in my car
- We’ll watch the city lights
- And the stars that shine
- I’ll sing for you
- You’ll be perfect in every way
- We’ll watch over this entire town
- And while I hold your waist a little tighter, I’ll say to myself: I never wish to forget this
- I’ll feel the same, I’ll take too many pictures to always remember this exact sky
- Is this what falling in love feels like?
- You’ll take me home and I’ll stumble to the front door smiling unbeknownst
- Why does it feel so right?
- Well, it couldn’t be
- Before February my heart was completely broken
- And so was mine
- Maybe we could just have some fun
- But this will never be just that
- And when my birthday comes
- You’ll only want to be with me
- I’ve always hated birthdays
- I won’t want you to be alone
- I’ll take you to our spot
- We’ll both be sad
- But I’ll feel a little bit less lonely
- After all, we’ll be lonely together
- Certain things that will come out of your mouth will cut right thru my soul
- It’s because I’ll tell you the truth about how life constantly overwhelms me
- It’ll be real, I’ll feel like I truly know you
- We’ll create some idea that we complement each other
- Because you were there when I didn’t know what I wanted
- And when I felt too broken to imagine that someone could look at me the way that you did
- It will feel right
- Maybe a little too much
- There is a chance this could work out for real
- But you won’t know what to do with it all
- And you’ll be too petrified to let yourself go
- Maybe time will tell or we could take it slow
- But we won’t be able to
- There is just too much happening, why did we fall?
- It’s not like that…
- Because we’ll never be truthful about it
- We’ll never admit what it is
- And how could we? There are skeletons on our closets that remind us of that January week
- But after February everything changed
- And we won’t know what it means
- I’ll write you a letter
- And I’ll do that too
- My mother will know your name
- I’ll be afraid when your friends call us a couple
- We aren’t, right?
- Right…
- But it will feel tough to admit
- A sudden coldness on my throat will choke me
- I’ll imagine you’re a little embarrassed about this
- We just won’t know what to do with it
- It will feel complicated
- It will only feel complicated because it felt true
- But we won’t know what “true” really means
- And I’ll leave the party crying
- Because we tried to talk about it
- Or did we?
- It just felt like words we wanted to be true
- Because you’ll tell me it is not that serious
- And so will you
- But somehow that will hurt even more
- It will maim you
- And it’ll maim you too
- We fuck to forget it
- I’ll be embarrassed I cried that one day, why is it all so overpowering, are we in a crisis?
- But when I feel your skin in the dark it all goes away
- It could work, maybe it can
- I’ll go to your birthday and meet your sister
- Or so you’ll say
- Because we were together when it was my time to turn a year older
- And I’ll believe you’ll be there too
- But when the time comes, I’ll be too scared to get in my car
- While I’ll watch the door the entire night
- I’ll kiss someone else and call her your name
- And I’ll cry at midnight because you never came
- It wasn’t my fault, something else came up, I couldn’t go
- I’ll look at you and say “what an awful lie”
- I’ll sight under the weight of what I did
- I’ll find someone else to fuck to forget about that night
- But we’ll still chase each other like animals who are both prey and predator
- Because it’ll feel unfinished and we’ll know…
- We’ll know so much it hurts…
- That there was something about this that was real
- We simply can’t help but to wonder
- So, we’ll stay a little longer.
(…)
- We’ll still not know what is true and what is not
- I won’t know what I want
- And I’ll crumble with the idea this might’ve been love
- It’ll drive me crazy the idea that you’ll always occupy a space in my mind
- Even when I’m convinced that you’ve decided to let this go
- I’ll give you a call like nothing happened
- We’ll try to pin-point the blame
- It’s because of what you said
- No, everything shattered because of that night
- Maybe if February had been different…
- But maybe it couldn’t have been…
- It’ll be nonsensical
- We’ll simply never know what it means until it is too late
- And we’ll come to a conclusion when it’s all dead and buried
- Perspective will be earned
- We’ll remember when we watched the city lights, when everything was perfect
- Then we’ll realize what “true” means
- But we’ll go on with our lives, as if nothing changed, like you never came.
- It all sounds so awful
- But it’ll also feel like magic
- Yes, it will
- Maybe that’s romance
- Maybe it is inevitable…
- I know, because we can see how everything will happen
- But still, you’ll pick me up on February
- Months later, we’ll perform the autopsy of what it used to be
- And we’ll never again be truly together.
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2 comments
Such a poetic and poignant story! Great use of the dialogue prompt to, essentially, make a narrative poem. Great job !
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Thank you so much Alexis!
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