Before We Fall Apart

We called it healing
Before we fall apart

You sent a song past midnight
Said"This made me think of us"
I watched the link turn blue
Then laid it screen-down by the lamp
We promised coffee every other week
Promised we'd be grown
But your box with yellow tape
Still waits beneath the stair rail alone

Maybe kindness won't feel sharp someday
Tonight it keeps the ending far away

Before we fall apart again
No birthday texts from this phone again
No hate, give both of us room to mend
Back to strangers before we fall apart

Your birthday text came Tuesday
I let it sit till after dark
Not to punish, not to wound you
I was listening to my heart
Your jacket sleeve beneath the railing
Caught my wrist when I walked through
I nearly typed"Come get your things"
Then knew I'd only asked for you

Before we fall apart again
No birthday texts from this phone again
No hate, give both of us room to mend
Back to strangers before we fall apart

I kept calling access kindness
Because goodbye felt mean
But every gentle check-in
Kept a future on the screen
I can't keep auditioning as your friend
I need the silence to begin

Before we fall apart again (not again)
No birthday texts from this phone again (let it end)
No hate, give both of us room to mend
Back to strangers before we fall apart

I archive the thread
Your box stays by the stairs
Before we fall apart