Bittersweet

Bittersweet isn't it? How it all means nothing without me? You've gotten everything you ever wanted, chased your dreams to the end of the road. Moved into the house you've always wanted, far away from your hometown, far away from me. Everything has always went your way, but as you sit on your porch swing every evening watching the sun slowly fade behind the horizon you can tell that somethings missing. Deep down, you know what it is. You see me in everything, everything you've worked so hard to achieve. You smell me in your morning coffee, it reminds you of how I use to make shapes with the cream on the top of the mug. So you drink it black-even though you hate it that way- to try and forget me. You see me in the face of the new cashier at your favorite grocery store, how we have the same smile that shows off our one and only dimple on the right side of our face. So you force yourself to take the longer way to the store across town to avoid seeing my face in her. You hear me me in the songs on the radio station that you always listened to, remembering how I used to somehow know every song that came on, and would sing along the entire time, not caring how off tune I was. So you drive along in silence, the only sound is the wind rushing by through your windows. You feel me in the emptiness of your bed, California king, because you remember how I used to squirm so much you had to sleep on the couch some nights. So you sleep on the couch once again, because the bed just isn't the same anymore. You taste me in the mouth of the girl you thought you loved after me, before you realized you only wanted her because she reminded you so much of me, from the way we wore our hair to the brand of perfume we used. So you broke her heart, because you never actually loved her. You keep yourself busy because you know your mind will wander back through the front door of my tiny house on the corner, and you'll remember how I so desperately longed to be in a mansion fit for a queen. You'll remember how you used to laugh at how much of a contradiction I was, like how I loved the snow but dreamt of walking along the sunny California beaches. You spend your days trying to forget me, yet every evening you end up on that same porch swing, reminiscing and fantasizing what it would be like with me sitting next to you. You get so lost in thought that when falling leaves brush past your arm, you feel me, and for just a split second, you pretend its me, and remember how I used to timidly wrap my arms around yours every night before I fell asleep. When you finally decide to return to your makeshift bed on your couch, you silently wish things could have turned out differently.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed the story.
"You taste me in the mouth of the girl you thought you loved after me, before you realized you only wanted her because she reminded you so much of me, from the way we wore our hair to the brand of perfume we used. So you broke her heart, because you never actually loved her. "
I liked the above lines. So honest and direct. A strong ending to a excellent story.
Coyote