“you want black tea?”

bitterness curled like

steam through

frozen tendrils of air.

“yeah, like always”

the car crept up the

drive thru, hushed, tense.

Our life

dancing on strings of the past,

living lives already played and lost.

Repetitive like

shows canceled mid season.

nothing really mattered

because nothing ever changed.

I would always

“cringe” away from conflict

hands grope intertwined

too scared to let go, to

cowardly to look him

in the eye.

Because I knew

I knew

that we would reflect

each others

bitterness

shattering our facade,

stopping our world abruptly, axis left

suspended

unturning, in a galaxy revolving.

“Smile, honey, smile”

I knew I would be lost

breathless, our atmosphere

torn to pieces

because I messed with the

carefully  

calculated

equilibrium

of our reality.

“On the other hand,

I’ll have water”

our eyes met,

frozen, broken.

His lips lighted around his teeth

“Two waters, please”

words pushed out in spurts,

forced.

wallet unfurled, perceived debt, ready.

to the red lips, and

cracked smile of a cashier.

Our world slowly creaked to a halt.

“That will be two dollars”

small price to pay

ice knocked against the plastic cup

clink

click

clink.