Rhythm – Day Two of NaPoWriMo

The rapid movements

of your long flailing arms

and steps quicker than

your heartbeats

kept the house alive.

The tender voice of your

warm kisses and giggles,

woke me up every morning,

while you smelled of a warm home

where two lovers stay

although, I did dread waking up to the whirring

noise of the washing machine every morning

which, when I expressed,

you laughed it off, telling me

that one day I’ll miss you, if for nothing

else, for doing my laundry

at the very least.

I knew that

you were the song

of the house, when

your voice hummed

the tune of ‘Jealous by Labyrinth’

every time I was on my laptop

and you, on yours.

But mind you,

I always stole a look

from the corner of my eye.

Your heartbeats

were the rhythm

that kept me going

when you pressed me close

to your heart every time

I came home a little

less happy, or a little less hopeful.

So today,

when I cry about how

I suddenly found myself alone,

sitting on the edge of

the bed one fine morning,

the bed that once contained

the both of us, surrounded by

an eerie stillness creeping

and seeping in through

the cracks in the walls

from rooms that desperately

craved your presence,

my therapist blatantly says

that you were never there

to be gone.

Schizophrenic, she calls me

hallucination, she calls you.

But what does she know,

right?

Written by Riya Peter