Alex M. Swanepoel

I. I miss you, and it’s not like I miss your face, arms, or lips. I could do without, but simply your presence always reminded me of home, and I swear I lost that when you left. You don’t know, I’ve never felt so homeless and alone. No amount of money or possessions even compare to you. I wish you knew but *delete* II. You know people always text their lovers in the morning, so I bet its weird that I’m texting you in the middle of the day, drunk at three in the afternoon. Don’t judge me, but I swear this whiskey tastes like you and this empty bottle is like our love. I have practically consumed what was left of it, and there is nothing left to do but throw it at you. But we both know all the shattered pieces will hurt only me anyway. Just please, open your arms, open your heart. Please don’t leave now because *delete* III. I hate you, hate everything about you. I can’t stand you anymore. but I love you, and I can’t breathe, please, please, answer me, I can’t *delete* IV. It’s been two weeks and these 336 hours and 14 minutes have been hell. You used to shimmer like a piece of heaven, but you’ve gone and I’m fallen. And I’ve been trying to be poetic, but poetry won’t bring you back to me. Spilling my heart out isn’t helping, so what do I do now, what do I do without *delete* V. Hey, how have you been? *send*