If I Shut My Eyes, I Believed,

But Also I Wanted Him To Go Away And Leave Me Be. I Was Granted One Weak Grace. Back In The Room Where The Green Chair Was Still Warm From His Body, I Blew That Lonely, Flickering Candle Out

I'm Just A Friendly Bystander Who They Occasionally Ask Questions Of. That's My Level Of Involvement.

These Things, She Felt, Were Not To Be Passed Around Like Disingenuous Party Favors. She Kept An Honor Code With Her Journals And Her Poems. 'inside, Inside,' She Would Whisper Quietly To Herself When She Felt The Urge To Tell.

If I Shut My Eyes, I Believed, I Would Disappear. To Make It Through, I Had To Be Present The Whole Time.

Before, They Had Never Found Themselves Broken Together. Usually, It Was One Needing The Other But Not Both Needing Each Other, And So There Had Been A Way, By Touching, To Borrow From The Stronger One's Strength.