The Sound of Windows Closing (2)
The Sound of Windows Closing
I stacked my trust in you on a frame that couldn’t stand
With every promise you made
I put another nail in my hand
Trusting your steady grip to hold the weight
Believing your words could keep out the cold and the fate
You said you’d never leave
and I took that to the chest
A stone skipping over the fear I tried to lay to rest.
But I learned the sound of windows closing down
The quiet click of a lock in a silent town
You built entire summers with your voice
then left me in the freeze
Now the only sound in this room is the wind in the trees
I used to fall asleep to the rhythm of your chest
Now I just listen to the silence doing its best.
I learned that even bright eyes can look away
That a smile given at dawn can rot before the end of the day
You invented tomorrows just to keep me from asking about today
Talking about next year while you were already walking away
Promises curled like paint in a hallway left to die
Flaking to dust every time I tried to ask you why.
But I learned the sound of windows closing down
The quiet click of a lock in a silent town
You built entire summers with your voice
then left me in the freeze
Now the only sound in this room is the wind in the trees
I used to fall asleep to the rhythm of your chest
Now I just listen to the silence doing its best.
There’s a mean streak to leaving on purpose
a sharp kind of sting
The ache of knowing you quit before you tried a single thing
I taste it in the coffee, bitter, refusing to sweeten
I see it in the shirts you left, looking barely beaten
A constant reminder that you can haunt a place without being there
Leaving me to wrestle with the empty air.
You left behind a language of sentences cut in half
Every unopened door is just another reason not to laugh
Now I measure my days in how often I expect you to care
Staring at the ceiling
wishing for a storm to clear the air
At least rain feels honest
at least thunder speaks its mind
Unlike the way you made silence the only answer I could find.
If anyone asks, I’ll say you taught me to expect less
That hope is a lie, and some wounds just stay a mess
But mostly I say nothing, I just let the quiet break
Because nobody wants to hear how much noise an empty room can make.