The Thorns In My Heart
Jayda Mand
It leaves you slowly as you sit in your car.
You don’t want to leave, but the goodbye has been spoken and the hugs have been shared.
The key is in the ignition, but not turned.
It hangs in the air, draining from you, slipping through your fingers. It is the mist, the haze around you. It’s the buzz of the engine as you finally turn on the car. It’s the way the music blurs into white noise on the reluctant drive home. It’s their smile in your head, it’s their laugh in your ears, their scent in your nose, their words in your mouth on the tip of your tongue—
I love you.
And you think,
I love you too.
It’s in the smile when you speak to me
The way my heart stops
I’ve run for so long now
And I’m running out of luck
Every time the prey runs
The archer learns to slay
With a faster hand and cupid’s stealth
Til they one day hit their prey.
