I have to forget you in fragments,
because I can't do it all at once
erase everything we were entirely,
those fleeting, but beautiful months

Being rid of you is a process,
a puzzle I finish piece by piece
an item of furniture per day,
in a home where you still have lease

I've made a stack of recollections,
single parts of a much larger whole
my arms tell me to move faster,
though my heart has little control

Pictures are removed from the hall,
photo by photo, frame by frame
the heartbreak is relieved a bit more,
fewer keepsakes I have to claim

Gradually, I reorganize the bed,
I change one blanket, then the next
reshaping the place where we loved,
walking away from you in steps

I cleanse one area of the house,
wiping the floors of your rosy scent
picking each flower from my mind,
in a garden that was never meant

The bathroom is getting cleaner,
your lipstick erased from the mirror
when I look at myself tomorrow,
the image will be a bit more clear

I'll bathe myself in soap and acid,
scrub off your fingerprints one by one
undo the beautiful wounds you made,
as though no harm was ever done

Very soon, I'll arrange all the pieces,
and create a mosaic of memory
enjoy the sight of you one last time,
before I'm free of you completely

© JBG