Poetry

Read this when you leave on your 6am flight

Overhead luggage/wheels sparking fire/an orange underbelly/darkening the grain/metal scratches runway now/propelling you faster, faster, faster/into foreign sunrises/ you deserve the brightest gold/ I watched you pack your suitcase/last Sunday evening/spreadeagled on the floor/you were always a light traveller/ only taking what you needed/Empty nylon space/ maybe if I curled into a ball/ maybe if our dreams were smaller/ a change of clothes, a notepad and a past/you said you would write every day/ Here I am twisting your promise/ Into my own/ I confess/ that I wished this rain into existence/that I hoped/the water would strip us clean, soften our edges/Aeroplane skidding back into my arms/Drenched ignition/bum,bum,bum/ shadows pressed heartbeat to heartbeat/ Look, look/ I bought you a keychain at the airport souvenir shop/ home immortalised in resin/plastic girls/smiles wide as airstrips/I watch you through the atoms of the floor-to-ceiling windows/a million barriers/  The distance unfurls pebble by pebble/ But we are so, very small/ departure against grey cityscape/Perfect takeoff, shiny bullet puncturing the skyline/ Wind scattering dust/ flying into our mouths/ Air-conditioning-slick/ Curvature of a perfect goodbye/  this hurt is far from poetic/The laws of physics tears us apart/Chequered tiles crisscross and I walk the tightrope/ Don’t look back/ In your seat, you’re ordering a coffee/ With an extra shot/Like you always do/ you’re floating through the storm/motionless as life hurtles/you were always magical like that

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