Smile at me
A prose poem
Sometimes, between bedtime stories and day worries, the spark slips out of your eyes. Loneliness coats me with the sticky tristesse; all roads lead down. I search for you in hidden places and strange faces. I melt into the skipped heartbeat spaces to grab an echo of your whisper. I decode silence and drown in the melancholy of blue tunes — darker than the moonless night.
I need your smile like the skin needs sun kisses — seeping into pores, dissolving fears. Without your glow, my feet are leaden, glued to nothings and yesterdays. I’m stuck between stale promises and recycled memories. What ifs ferment into never. Rain is not bliss, just tears.
When your world turns black, you run and run from your helplessness, forgetting about your gifts and gratitude. But I won’t leave you. Not again. I’ll caress your steps till I embrace you in the dance of oneness. I’ll hold you. I’ll mould you. I’ll fill you with hopes, giggles and butterflies.
I’ll be you. You’ll be loved. And we’ll grin at each other through the mirror of this funhouse of life.
© Masha Zubareva 2024
Big thanks to the editors of Write Under the Moon for welcoming me to this wonderful publication!
