Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Rhymes - 3. Why We Fight
No raised voices,
Objects don’t fly.
Words escape
In barely a whisper.
It’s a change in the tone of your voice:
A slight sigh,
As if there is relief
In disaster.
Silence pervades the empty air,
And conversation ceases.
Yet something flares
Deep within,
And feasts on every doubt.
Every mistake we ever made,
Guilt binges.
We fling sharp edges
At the mirror
And cut ourselves on
Our own words.
Because we’re afraid.
And every doubt we ever had
And every hurt we ever felt.
Every time we felt on the outside,
Growing up wasn’t easy.
Because, it’s unreal
How you make me feel so whole.
Because sometimes,
I see the light in your eyes
As I lay beside you.
And I watch it flicker and die
As you try to distance yourself
From heartbreak that has yet to happen.
And sometimes
I have low expectations of myself,
But I see the way you look at me:
Not the hand-me-down I feel
But a shiny mint-condition.
I’m sorry I don’t come with an exchange policy.
No returns and no refunds.
So when you take apart this exterior,
Might you run?
Maybe toss me aside and call me a fraud?
I know why we fight:
You’re afraid and I’m afraid.
You’re afraid that you’re not enough,
And I, that you deserve better.
But there are moments,
When you smile and I laugh
And you’re lying next to me,
The hairs on your chest tickling my fingertips,
That maybe, just maybe,
We could finally believe that
We’re good enough.
- 1
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Recommended Comments
Chapter Comments
-
Newsletter
Sign Up and get an occasional Newsletter. Fill out your profile with favorite genres and say yes to genre news to get the monthly update for your favorite genres.