A lovely obsession

A Lovely Obsession

A lovely obsession.

I’m caught between mourning you and thanking you.

Death tastes like sour milk from my mother’s breast.

I taught you how to speak,

how to form truths with the curve of your mouth.

Honesty sounds like footsteps walking away.

I became the hunter and the prey.

I’ll watch you. I’ll find you.

Hope smells like rosewood and rain.

You traded your sanity for a petty debt.

I traded my damage for a full set of lungs.

Redemption feels like trading words for your heart.

I’ll still spill poetry at your feet.

And you’ll exclaim,

What a lovely confession.

My voice trembled as I read my poem to the crowded auditorium. Mrs. Sellars sat in the front row, beaming up at me with pride. I looked out over the crowd, my eyes grazing over Mack, who was sitting in the back row. There, in the corner, a shadow flickered in and out of view. I held my breath.

No, it wasn’t him. It was never him. I had waited and waited and waited. I cried. I screamed at Mack. I didn’t understand how he could just leave me like that.

Mack, Joel, and Nicole clapped loudly for me as I exited the stage and made my way to the lobby. I didn’t want to sit and listen to the others read their poems. I was too nervous.

It felt good to make it here, but there was one person missing. The success of making it this far in the competition felt hollow. I hadn’t felt Hunter’s eyes on me in weeks.

“Excuse me, miss?” a voice called from behind. I spun around and faced a flushed man with a rounded stomach as he stumbled toward me. “Are you Roe? Roe Palmer?”

I nodded. “That’s me.”

“I have a delivery for you. Please sign here.” Holding up his clipboard, the man waited eagerly as I took the pen from his grasp and signed my name. “Thank you!” he said before handing me a box and disappearing.

I lifted the lid and gasped at the single rose resting on a pile of tissue paper. There was a gold card perched beside it. I picked it up to read the printed words typed there.

Good Job, Pretty Debt.