The Coffee is Still Hot

The coffee is still hot, though I am gone.

The porch light hums, a moth trapped in its glare.

You said you’d follow, but I walked alone.

-

My name curled on your tongue, then tumbled on

Too quiet, like the breath before a prayer.

The coffee is still hot, though I am gone.

-

The floorboards didn’t break. The house went on.

Even ghosts grow tired of waiting there.

You said you’d follow, but I walked alone.

-

I packed no bag, the leaving had begun

Long before I ever touched the stairs.

The coffee is still hot, though I am gone.

-

I wanted you to stop me. Just say “don’t.”

You said “be safe,” as if I’d just repair.

You said you’d follow, but I walked alone.

-

Some love is thunder. Ours was just the dawn –

So soft I wasn’t sure it had been there.

The coffee is still hot, though I am gone.

-

You said you’d follow.

But I walked alone.

-

Coda

If you find this note, don’t call me back.

Just let the mug cool quiet in the rack.

Let this be the warmth you never spoke.

Let this be the promise that we broke.