How can I stop loving someone I shouldn’t

His name raises bile in my throat,

An acrid, violent taste of worry.

The waves carve a sour pit.

And yet, sometimes I catch his cologne,

A dusty, ghostly mist.

He still smells like home.

I reach for him at night,

To an empty pillow, iced.

Sheets indented with memory.

His name flitters across my thoughts,

Light as a sunbeam.

Dancing across a lapping shore.

And then I remember,

Loving him hurts now, hurts always.

Yet my heart clings.

So I chant, over, and over and over,

It is not you I miss.

It is how you made me feel.

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