Your voice pierces the air
like every insult I threw.

I won’t look up when you enter this room.

My heart leaps out of my chest
and takes my eyes with it.

It hits the ground with a thud,
indiscernible from the sound it once made for you.

Dormant butterflies cut my gut on their way up,
releasing my acid into me,
freezing as they flee.

Your shoulder
colder
than the last words you said to me.

Shattered wings
join heart shards
and sharp words
in scarlet pieces at my feet.

I can’t tell them apart.