I willed for you to call.
At every turn, step and leg
Of the journey ahead.
Every time a phone rang,
My head would turn
In naive anticipation
Hoping your shadow would be there.
The hope, the small spark
Still burning in the caverns of my chest.
You only ever called when you needed something.
I would have picked up regardless.
My self-respect is gone.
Owned and tied to you.
My resolve faltered,
Not to pick up and dial-
The number tattooed into my skin
And in my bones.
I still waited for you to call.
I picked myself off the ground
I had once been rooted into
Like you had once been rooted into me.
The tangled branches,
Once inseparable
Now lay lifeless and torn.
A mile in the distance
Where you wouldn’t have let me roam
It was then the phone rang.
