I heard that you’re different now, darling, that you don’t smile with those pearly whites the way you used to. I heard that you walk with your shoulders slumped now, that you stare at the scuff marks on your sneakers instead of looking straight ahead, instead of tilting your chin up and reading your future in the stars. I still remember that summer when we sat on your roof every night, so adamant about staying the same and never growing apart, but that’s just it, darling- people grow apart all the time and really, there’s no one to blame for it. We grew in different directions like the branches of a tree both stemming from the same trunk, but ultimately finding ourselves far away from where we used to belong together.
You’re different now, darling. I saw your eyes hidden by sunglasses as your pretty girlfriend dragged you along like you were a new purse she’d bought to show off and brag about to her friends. I waved with a silent smile and you didn’t notice at first, but then you offered a smile and a nod in response. We were standing in closer proximity than we had in years, but I had never felt further away from you.
Take care, darling, goodbye, and whatever you do, don’t let these shallow winter nights swallow you whole.
