The Space Unseen

I'm sitting on this bench again today,

thinking, "Maybe I wasn't enough - that's why you couldn't stay."

Wondering why

and how I missed it.

Wondering what I would've had if you were still here.

The wind moves, but you no longer do.

The world turns, but I'm still sitting here without you.

Time changes, but it changes without you in it.

Now you're just a memory - a memory I can't stop replaying in my head.

Why? Because I'm scared it will fade.

They say there's a reason for everything,

but is there a reason for my pain?

For the heartache, for the lost time?

They say "time heals all things,"

but no one ever tells you how long it takes to heal all things.

Now I see it -the fine line drawn between "is" and "was."

I see now how one word changes everything -

even the past and the present.

And now I'm stuck

between savoring the past

and engaging in the present.

You were supposed to be here,

sitting beside me.

Your fresh scent reminding me of the fruits I love,

your laughter drifting near and far like it never wants to fade,

your words telling me truths I find hard to understand,

your presence filling my life

the way it always should have.

You were supposed to be here -

with me.

But sometimes I ask -

Why?

Why the pain? Why the emptiness?

Do I still have enough to surrender?

Do I still have a reason to stay?

Do I still have enough...

to be enough?

By Dipoko Inioluwa