Blue Eyes and Other Sources of Drowning

The Staircase

The last time I walked up these stairs it was hard to breathe. They leave me winded on a normal day but they feel impossible today. Typically the constriction is in my lungs. But today I feel it in my chest, in my heart, and arms. Because the last time I walked up the stairs, every ounce of me was pulling to go back down and go home. Where you wouldn't be in my bed like you promised you'd be.

And five weeks later it hurts all the same. Your ghosts still haunt these halls. He clings to my clothes. His scent lingers on my sheets. But I have forgotten how he tastes and how his voice sounds. But his phantom touch could still set me on fire.