Glutton for Punishment

i wasn't trying
to look
it just
happened to
catch my
eye
and down the
rabbit hole
i traveled
for reasons
beyond my
rational
comprehension
seeing words
designed to
catch mass
attention
when the same
were denied
from me
in the times
when the one
thing my heart
did need
was to know
we
were still
as we had
planned to be
met with silence
expression
limited
emotion
constricted

i didn't mean
to look
but the
familiarity in
your eyes
caught me
by surprise
seeing you
in this space
as active
as ever
as if never
we were
and
two years
slipped away
as effortlessly
as they began
in a time
as if i never
existed in
your world
or you in mine

but once i
saw i had
to look
had to follow
each
corresponding
link
had to sink
further
into the
quagmire
until my
breath ceased
my heart rate
increased
and the
truth i'd been
searching for
became evident
and clear
seems there
was more life
without me
there
that i could be
replaced
because absence
does not make
the heart
grow fonder
it simply made
my memory
easier to
erase

i didn't want
to look
but then
i couldn't
look away
couldn't turn
away
nor turn back
the page
returning to
the day
before
friendship
was taken
further
and then
slipped
away

16-2009-6 Writing Rhyme and Reason - M. Michelle