Caving Chest

I'm staring right at you, but all I see is empty space.
The dark, perhaps, has eaten away the caring
And kind face that I've come to love.

In some pitiful attempt of comfort, you pat my arm.
I wonder if I imagined that, if your hand really touched me.
Where had the electricity of your touch gone?

You're telling me slowly that the love has died.
I think that maybe, perhaps, I've died with it;
How did it leave without me noticing?

I notice that you're standing up now.
I know that you're saying goodbye to me;
What happened to our promise?

You're not looking at me anymore
You don't see me.
You see what they told you to.

Detached and uncaring you ask me
If I'm alright.
I nod, you nod, and then you're gone.

Tears are slow to form.
Shock is hard to overcome.
Somewhere between the trembling lip and sputtering
I manage to whimper
“I’m alright, I’m alright. It only hurts when I breathe.”