Apart

Even after leaving an abusive relationship, both the abuser and the victim feel a ting of regret and pain and both are saddened by the other.

Every smile that grew on your lips

Every laugh I can't forget

Every whisper and every breath

Every bed sheet stain you left

All the unread messages

All the missed phone calls

Don't they fill up your notifications?

Don't the window shades seem thicker than before

Doesn't it seem like there's a figure at the door

That the shadows of me are lingering there

Do you see my footprints on the floor 

Do you ever stop to stare

At the blurry selfies of you and me

And do you ever feel empty

When you flip through your diary

We used to exist, in a part of your dreams

When you would close your eyes, you would dream of me

And would wake up with your hand in mine

But now it's just a past time

Does the weight in your throat

Feel like it will tear through your neck

Do you shudder when you see my name in your notes

Did you remove the pictures of us from your desk

Did you remove the kisses I left on your skin

Did you remove the memories I taped to your dreams

Author's Note

It's not the way you've made it seem
Like I've disappeared and you've cleaned up after me
But that I've been too ragged and disheveled to stay
In your hell house full of twisted words you won't explain
I'm too beaten up and torn up and I can't stand to breathe
In the same place as the torturer who told me to stay.