Almost

You had the words,

hidden behind your teeth,

locked in the chamber of your mouth,

and I could hear them clinking,

like coins you were afraid to spend.

I saw the struggle in your eyes,

the way your thoughts tangled,

knots you refused to untie.

There were moments

when I almost heard you,

when the air thickened

with your unspoken words,

and I waited, breath held.

But you swallowed it down,

again and again,

until there was nothing left to say

but goodbye—

a word that fit so easily in your mouth

after all the others had been buried.

And you,

you remain a mystery.