GRAVITY

When I fell for you,

My heart couldn’t help it.

I couldn’t stop myself.

I was free-falling.

I wanted to know if you were, too.

With a bungee cord tied around your chest,

You wanted to know how far you could go before it would safely pull you back.

“Gravity is just a test,” she said.

But

We were racing bodies headed for a collision.

Each time we casually brushed skin,

Each time we bantered

Invitations

Veiled within knowing glances

Across the manufactured distance between us,

The rush of adrenaline

Made up for the

Sneaking around and

Hiding behind billboards and

Walking two steps too fast for the other to keep up.

Neither of us knew why we were unhappy nor what we were unhappy about;

Only that we were angry at each other —

Or I was angry at you

For covering up lies with the truth,

For fabricating substitutes because you were too scarred to lose,

For being too afraid of holding me like

I was dying to hold you.

“You always come back,” she said.

But

Did she know the cords were frayed?

Because gravity won,

When you fell for me.

Alyssa Lie