I’m dredging you back up.
Unintentionally,
I swear.
It wasn’t until a very thin line:
“Change, ma’am?”
tripped me, guiltily, into rummaging;
scouring through the pockets of that winter coat I simply swim in
for apologies.
But
instead
I found bits of you
lingering like lint
(unwanted)
among other things.
I pulled first the fond memories
full of naivety and niceties
favors and false compliments
and with these fell the sidelong glances,
first kiss tucked close to my hip.
I mused over my treasures,
plundered adolescent antiquities,
but suddenly remembered
and reached
just a little further
elbow- deep
excavator,
and exhumed old excuses
tumbling one after another:
“Working late”,
“Wouldn’t understand”,
“traffic”
“tired”
tearing my limbs with their weight
and worthlessness.
But, the last thing I saw
lying so sweetly at the bottom
of everything-
your forked tongue
that tasted so sugary once to my mouth
then turned, burned, sea- salted my eyes
rubbed my throat raw and sore
from screaming.

You’re dragging me back down,
sitting on the city street corner.
Wind gone from my sails
surrounded by anchors
I thought I’d dropped leagues back from here.