With a golden retriever smile

He sheepishly said hi to fill the gap between us

For the majority of the time, I tried not to breathe too much because you were breathing the same air

And at that time, I plotted ways on how to kill you

As the mockingjay nocturnes play throughout the morning

I hate to think twice about the words that departed your lips that day

I don’t want to wish for something I don’t deserve to begin with

The only memory I have of you was 5 years ago, but you’ve noticed me since forever

We must fear the loss of the things we love most

I didn’t know what real sleep felt like until I knew you were there

And the feeling of fear slowly receded into nothing

labeled yourself as deadweight

At first, I dreaded the hand reaching deep into the glossy fishbowl

Remember how bleached your cheeks were in resignation to an unfortunate fate?

And yet you took each step on this earth with hope until

We basked under the petrichor

 Cicadas glinted across the orange sunset meadow

My understanding of your upbringing wouldn’t change the fact that I quickly judged you

The fact that you grew up indifferent to pain

And now we’re here bound by a shared trauma

We were linked at one point, like the double-tied shoelaces you did out of habit

And I refuse to yield to it

So when you asked me if I love you

I said real