You stand adjacent to me
but our eyes only stare at the screen
Are you scared to look at me? Do I not deserve at least a glance?
I’m not sure what else we’re looking for
because the answer is already there,
clinging onto our backs like a skeletal dog
with its twisted, jutted bones impaling through our
equally perplexing chests.

You release an audible sigh, a sigh so heavy
I think the floor underneath us sunk
with the opening of your lips and
I feel a little bad for the ground,
Since nothing should bear such a cumbersome anvil
on such a lovely, gorgeous day.

You throw me a couple generic farewells
(with your eyes still focused on the screen)
and I toss them right back at you
because that’s how the game is played.

Letters and numbers dance before us
but it’s obvious that they mock us
for my steps can never match yours
And even if we try to persist,
we can never waltz in concord like they do
on that dreaded, spiteful screen.

You turn away from me without warning and
How could you? Not even a glance?
there are a thousand words I can say but
I reiterate your sigh
because no words come out,
just tedious breaths.

You engrave Goodbye onto a bullet
and I catch the damn thing with my heart
and the screen flickers sardonically at me
for I won’t yell I Love You or Please Stay –
instead, I stand there as you disappear
and I let the screen’s doleful words
harass me until the answer on my back
departs with you.

San Francisco. Boarding.