On the other side

A poem by Sean Kathryn Bratton

I’ll see you on the other side, with no guarantee. I’ll see you on the other side, this time you come up to me

I haven’t written in days. I couldn’t find the right words to say

Something changed in me throughout the nights. Silence echoed through my hills, you vanished out of sight

Nothing left to numb. A plateau in distracting where my pain comes from

My feet are dangling off the edge, my head getting dizzy, I’m counting only to ten

This feels like it, this feels like take off. No fight left in me, no chasing while you run off

What’s left is me, what I’m made of, what I hold. What’s left is me in this bed, even if it’s cold

What do I have to say, what do I want. What do I desire in mind, without us two, with just my one

The pen is out of ink, high horse out of hay, clouds out of rain. Basically what I’m trying to say is, I let you go, so I could stay

Contradiction runs my mind, you in the center, you as all mine

I’m all out of breath, tapping on ice; I see a slivered crack and this time it’s for me, it’s mine

I’ll see you on the other side, with no guarantee. I’ll see you on the other side, this time you come up to me

No malice, no spite, no bringing justice to what is right

Just antagonizing pain that won’t go away. Antagonizing angst that I’m drowning in one place

No lifeline left to call, and you’re not in the room, not even in the hall

Just a mirror every where I see, my reflection always staring back at me

It’s me

Just me

Say it again, really fucking loud, sing it out like fucking Glee

It’s me

I close one door, knowing what I leave behind. I’ll open another, I trust Divine’s plan even while scared out of my mind

With not much left to say, I pack my bags and go my way. With nothing left to lose, I’ll build my house for one, not two. With nowhere left to flee, I honor my pursuit to let love, and let be

I’ll see you on the other side, with no guarantee. I’ll see you on the other side, this time you come up to me