Familiar Lies

Poetry in free verse

He will come
like he always does
after he has drunk so much
he can barely make his way up
the stairs
that lead to my door.

When he knocks,
I will open my eyes
from this flame-induced stupor,
then the door
to this empty place I live alone in.
I will open my arms,
then my legs,
to welcome him in.

And when he leaves the next morning
he will know he has left
a piece of himself here
in this empty room,
and taken away yet another piece
of my starved soul
with him.

I wonder if he knows
that though I opened my doors
my heart was closed to him.

I think he does.

I think he is okay with it -
he said he wanted things casual,
that he never wanted my love after all,
as if he was too scared
of what he might find
if he stayed long enough.

And yet he will come back at night
like he always does.

And I will tell myself it doesn’t matter
like I always do.

If you liked this piece of work, you might be interested in my book of poems — Stolen Reflections: Some Stories Are Told in Verse.