Taste testing.

I tasted it again today.

The familiar You

paired with

cautious I.

But the flavors soured

quickly on my tongue,

stuck against my teeth.

I found I could not stomach it.

Three feet away,

hands clasped in thoughtfulness,

eyes wide with promise.

You shook slightly with sincerity.

The door opened:

to comfortability—

safety—

habit—

to Us.

I lost myself

in reveries

of the past.

But that was it;

there was no more.

Future dreams wisped

across my finger-tips,

adrift in knowing better.

A year ago,

I wished on every

11:11

for us.

A year later,

I know better

than to wish

for fairy-tale endings.