mistake

your smiling lips pressed so tightly against mine
reminds me just how tightly I should have held onto you.
I let you go when I should have pulled you closer,
and when you keep me there,
centered in front of you,
secure in your arms,
put in place by your touch,
our words fall into white noise.
no need for cluttered explanations,
shed our breathless anticipation,
no longer pretending we don’t remember
how to fit together just right.
acknowledged mistakes,
repentant tears falling on our lips,
whispered forgiveness lingering on frost-laden air.

reunions and well-deserved love
must all come to a crashing halt;
they always do.
hear my unspoken grief,
my heart’s lament.
this place can’t hold me much longer,
and neither can your arms,
even though leaving you here
shreds the last bit of decency I’ve left to offer.

I lay before you a mistake I’m sure I’ve made again.