Listen for it

“People say I love you all the time - when they say, ‘take an umbrella, it’s raining,’ or ‘hurry back,’ or even ‘watch out, you’ll break your neck.’ There are hundreds of ways of wording it - you just have to listen for it, my dear.”

— The Curious Savage (John Patrick)

But people say “I don’t love you” in little ways too. The way

they leave blackholes in your chest

when you leave them with a thousand drunken apologies. The way

they would lead the butterflies into your stomach

and swat them all from the inside. The way they

break their promise of waiting

for you at the other end of the aisle of a

half garden, half beach wedding. The way they let you wake up

to dial tones, and empty beer bottles on a Christmas morning. Maybe

you have to pay attention too. Maybe

it’s time for you to leave.