Member-only story
The Rain Falls (and I’m Here Without You)
A Poem
[imagine: picture perfect couple, mid-twenties, suburban, hands entwined]
you’ve got that grin on your face — that one quirk of yours I can never judge at face value because you can smile while you’re simmering inside
asking would only make you smile wider, always on cue for whatever eyes or cameras come our way, and your hand is a vice around mine
moving on — what even does that mean when you’ve still got a lock on my heart?
[imagine: those two whose voices are getting louder, words scrambled, in the fits of an argument not solved in simple terms anymore]
what do you want me to say? — you’re so upset that the coffee cup spills across the tabletop, and we’re suddenly acting like angry teenagers who have no idea how to rein in things like emotions
you slam your hand down, and the crack against the wood makes me jerk as if you’ve just slapped me across the face
but there’s no harm done, is there?
this time it’s my smile that does the lying for you
[imagine: the rain, an umbrella, and tears that can’t blend in so easily anymore]
a week goes by
