Let Me Let Go

I want to let go

Matted hair that strangles anything foolish enough to run through it

Red, puffy eyes that have seen more than they could bear

Breath that can haunt ghosts with nothing but its presence

I remember seeing the starry night in his twinkling eyes,

feeling the warm crackle of a comforting fire in his embrace,

kissing a steaming bowl of salty soup whenever I pressed my lips onto his smooth, sweat-drenched head

All that remains is the stinging cold of a desert haunted by the darkness of night,

a bone-dry pile of dust that can no longer comfort me with a warm embrace,

a world that no longer has a place reserved for me

The pain of knowing what could have been shrinks at the pain of what is

I've been walking a tightrope on my toes,

desperately grasping at dwindling rays of light

I reach out to grab what little warmth is left for me,

but my outstretched fingers only push it away

I am losing sight of the light that remains

I am sick of fighting the biting cold

I am tired of trying to hold on

And so I let go