Six Short of Six

 

It’s six short of six 

He said

Something wrong 

He said 

You’re not you 

He said 

We both knew it 

In our hearts

It was time 

To bid away our time 

Because it would never be 

The time 

That we wanted it to be 

It is six today

So much to have been said 

Yet nothing 

Only this world 

With the bottle of whiskey half done

With the pillowcase half crinkled 

With the mirror half hand-stamped 

Me - halved 

And this world 

I find so hard to step out of 

I keep gripping my skin 

In the places he did 

So the marks wouldn’t leave

Because everything else did 

His words 

His gaze

His promises

He 

They ask me 

What was so extraordinary

Was it in the ways he loved you 

Or in the ways he didn’t 

Neither 

It was in the laughter 

Only we could laugh - together

It was in the words 

Only we could comprehend - together

It was in the rituals 

Only we knew to show up for - together 

And yet

It was in knowing 

When he said 

I’ll wait for you

That we’d both be waiting 

And wanting 

Forever

For a forever

That was never going to be 

Some would say I stole 

I would say I borrowed 

A little time

A little trance

A little tranquility 

To last a lifetime

This world 

We called ours 

Till about six short of six 

.d