A Just in Case

‘ I know,

One day eventually,

Yeah, I know,

One day, I’ll have to let it all go.

But I keep it just in case.

Yeah, I keep it just in case.’

-Demi Lovato (Just in Case)

I sang my song like a nightingale,

And howled it up to the stars.

You listened to every single note.

Every word.

Every syllable.

Every piece,

As though it were your own chapped lips uttering those foreboding words into that never-ending silence.

Now, you do not.

Howl at the stars, I do.

Howl words too garbled to understand.

In pain, I sing, my heart beating to an unfelt tune.

You lack the desire to listen.

So, I sit here, taking in your words.

That cheer that shines in your eyes,

That burns down to your very core,

Burns me too.

And sometimes it stings.

Just for a moment.

How far we’ve grown apart.

How far we’ve distanced ourselves, from not just each other.

But, the world.

We used to talk to each other.

We used to listen to each other.

Now you talk.

And I listen.

Burning on the inside, like a phoenix on fire.

Burning to speak,

To tell you what’s really going on,

What’s really on my mind.

Those words that you promised to hear,

Those ideas that you promised to listen to,

Those stories that you promised to capture into the very core of your heart,

Are now nothing but broken pieces,

In a reverie of shattered promises,

That no one ever keeps.

Oh, how we’ve grown into the women that we are today.

How we’ve grown apart.

No more words to say,

And no more songs to sing.

But then, as though in slow motion, you rise and walk away.

And once again, I suffer in silence, watching your retreating feet,

With a smile plastered on my face.

A smile.

Just a smile.

That is what I offer to you.

Farewell my friend, I’ll always be waiting,

Just In case you come back.