Untitled #21

A Poem by Max Rwizi, Jr.

I traced her laughter like sunlight on stone
A warmth I had never carried in my chest.
She offered me a world painted in soft colors
but my hands smeared the canvas black.
Every time she leaned in, I recoiled
But not from her but from the shadows
that wrapped around my ribs like tight laces.
Her touch was water, clear and kind
yet I was a cracked pipe, spilling it all.
I wanted to build a home in her eyes
but the ghosts kept rattling at my door.
They whispered of shame, of wars unfought and of nights where I drowned alone in silence.
So I kissed her forehead with trembling lips
not as a lover but as a mourner.
knowing the distance between us
was not miles but the weight of myself.
She walked away carrying only questions
while I stayed behind with my demons.
Still trying
Still failing
to choose love over the fire in my mind.