Apart

Written by Jacob Ibrag

I still see her when I close my eyes. We’ll both

be sitting down on her couch in the cold den by the

television and watch old memories play. ‘There were

always more good than bad,’ she would whisper as

her perfect head would rest on my chest. An unpleasant

one would come on the screen and as a gut reaction

I’d reach for the remote to try to fast forward. Then

she’d stop me and ask me to let it play on, ‘can’t forget

what happened, it’s part of us. ’Even as a figment of my

imagination, she manages to make more sense than me.

 So I’d let it play, all of it. The fights, the silence, the

makeup sex. After a while, the pattern would remain

and pieces of us would begin to fade. Through love we’d

somehow give birth to hate. I mean, how is that even

possible? How can such a thing exist when two people

would move worlds to make the other smile? It’s because

they won’t. Love only gets you so far until one asks the

other to change who they are. ‘I love you. I love. I. I just

don’t understand how you can’t accept me for who I am.

Am I not enough for us?’ We were enough,

until we simultaneously grew apart.

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Artist Unknown