Time

The second hand moves in slow lurches
and each tick is like shattering glass.
When I close my eyes the sound is only amplified.
The silence consumes the oxygen;
I am suffocating in your stare.

Poisonous words locked behind my teeth.
I can see the venom on your tongue
as you open your mouth to speak;
closing it as you choke on your words.

Green meets with brown as our gazes collide.
Sitting two feet apart
but it feels like two thousand.
My throat is dry and my lips are cracked
and my head is spinning.
Your eyes are piercing through me
and all I want to do is
run, run, run.

Neither of us speak a syllable;
You look away as I walk out the door,
practically hearing your thoughts following me:
"How did this happen?"

I feel the same way.
But there's no turning back time.