13 August 2012

suddenly

Suddenly. Silence.

My good woman has been. And gone. Really gone.

I always know that when it happens it will be like a band-aid coming off.

So the world goes quiet; my heart and mind are empty. I pace the house, nowhere to go. I have nothing to say and no one to say it to. There will be no lingering friendship; she’s not like that.

She explained it all, the gradual disappearance of us since I came back to Melbourne, the reality sinking in and the glorious fantasy seeping away. I see it but I don’t; I feel it but I don’t.

Her bike accident seals it. She has tried to enter my world but can’t. I have wanted to enter her world but haven’t really tried. It’s nobody’s fault, but I can’t help but think I am to blame.

I get her keys from my car, hand them to her at the top of the drive. We hug, we separate, she drives away into the night. Tomorrow when I am at work she will bring back the mountain bike I lent her kids, pop my keys in the key bowl.

I can’t believe I won’t sit in her kitchen again, talk and laugh together. I can’t believe I won’t feel that familiar body against me. I can’t believe anything at all just now. But I must.

The silence roars in my head.

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