Chelsea Martin

The Abyss

You looked like a secret the world hadn’t yet touched

Untarnished by the ruin of thunderstorms or time

I used to count your breaths in the dark

Marking each soft sigh between the quiet symphony performed by the insects outside our
window

I wanted to know if your heart would beat just for me

If the wind carried your heartbeat towards mine

Where breath met breath

We were just two hearts learning a new rhythm

The silence that followed your departure was heavier than any scream could be

Even the cacophony of noise bleeding from the streets was featherlight in the chasm left by your absence

But this quiet was deceptive, a calm pool before the river tumbles down the falls

What followed was a torrent of thoughts, regrets rushing through my mind

Like water through a sieve, I could barely catch one

Maybe what we shared was just a moment, a season, and I’d made it into a story, our forever

But I’ll miss the part where I didn’t how much I had to lose

And how much I could keep

Because when you left, the flowers in the meadow began to wilt

While I was left with the sunlight I carried in the name of loving you