I get into the car and you begin to drive

The only thing we share on our journey is

Silence

It smothers our words

Chokes our voices

Louder than anything that could be spoken

Your feet crunch on the shattered remains of my heart

I breathe in your pain

As the destination draws closer. . .

We grow farther apart.

Miles impossibly stretched out between us

Scars from the battle harden with pain and misery

Giving us cold, scaly armor

We are past tears

Our young faces have grown haggard

Deep lines of depression embedded in our skin

Your grip on the steering wheel tightens

I look up hopefully but

A sigh that tells all the secrets of the soul escapes you

And your hands

Loosen

Tears I didn’t know I had begin to fall from my eyes

Traitors to my broken heart

I wipe them angrily,

I will not show weakness.

We are here.

I notice the frigid weather outside

How could it have been so warm only minutes ago?

The door is slammed shut and my heart bleeds agony

A wall made up of more than metal and glass separates us

One last look into your eyes

Guarded and emotionless

The chain between us broken

Never to return

You leave without a sound

As if this was a dream . . . or a nightmare

I turn around and begin the long journey

Back to the wholeness I once had, but

My heart stays with you.