Negative Space

You tell me no. I listen

and I tiptoe around you

Like a little child

Waiting patiently for a warm smile.

I stand in the corner and

Fall in love with your

Shadow on the wall.

I am a shell you've collected

on a shelf, discarded

With your other pretty things.

You run from the secret that

Creeps up the stairs

Into the room

Where you keep your heart

Locked away.

Maybe not today,

Or tomorrow

But in the yesterdays

And last nights of our history

The air was warm between us.

Hot like breath.

It lied between words;

In between jokes

Laughter and criticism.

Love keeps quiet now;

negative space between us.