​Boy with light in his skin
Nicole Yvonne Lovett
 
 
Boy with light in his skin
Trades sides with me on a sidewalk
We do not say anything
I always feel us both breathing in

I see you underneath the bus stop
At the end of the day
I could ask you, how have you been?
How was your day?
However, I do not walk that way

***

We have been friends
For more than eight years
Longer than I have spent
With the boy holding kind in his voice
He calls me his
Best

And, yes,
You loved me
But you never looked at me

I have known my cousin for all of my life
And I do not invite her over to my house either

When I was born,
She did not want to look at me
Because I was not supposed to be there

***

Two ruined relationships sit in front of me
The two people represent the ruined relationships, I should say.
I am so insecure that everything comes crashing down
Before I can blink.
They see the breaking of my soul,
Getting caught up in damaged things not even in existence yet
And withdraw from my presence. Please know that

I know

It is my fault that I
Walk alone
On the sidewalk
And I lie alone
In my house
 
 
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