April Smith

I remember the way you said my name…. Like it still meant something. Like I still mattered. Funny how quiet it got after that. You thought the rain would wash it away, didn’t you? That it would carry me somewhere far from you…. Somewhere I couldn’t find my way back. But I did. I felt every step you took after. Every lie you told yourself just to sleep. Every time you looked at your hands and pretended they were clean. Yooou didn’t lose me that night. Yooou brought me with yooou. I’ve been standing in the corners of your rooms… learning the shape of your silence. Watching the way you avoid mirrors. The way you freeze when the house creeks, like some part of you already knows Yooou can feel me, can’t yooou? That weight on the air… that breath you hear when you are alone…. That moment when you swear some just moved behind you. That’s me. I don’t need to chase you. I don’t need to hurt you. You’re already doing that to yourself. I just… remind you. Every night. Every quiet second. Every heartbeat you wish with slow down. I remember everything. The look in your eyes when you realize what you’d done. The moment you chose silence instead of saving me. You had a choice And now… So do I. I could scream. I could tear this place apart. I could make you see me all at once… But no. I want you to feel it. The truth… Creeping in… Peace by peace… Until there’s nowhere left to hide. I’m not leaving! Not until you say it. Not until you admit it. So go ahead… Pretend I’m not here. I’ll be right behind you when you turn around. Morning… Noon… Night… And especially the midnight hour.