Pause

Intimacy hesitates
in the shadow cast between us.
The passing of time has not drawn us nigh,
nor has it harkened reconciliation’s draft,
rather, it fills the void with this intangible space.
Seemingly innocuous statements
carry peculiar weight,
transfiguring tentacles
calculating the distance between us.
Feigned ambivalence and
heavy-handed words from dry breath
define my betrayal.
Pushing to pull:
because embracing hands are the sign of weakness.
Two pawns positioning themselves in boundless battle;
light’s liberation dare not enter
and disturb our shadow of doubt.