Hypnotic.
You didn't need a clock swinging from a
Golden chain to put me under your spell.
All you had to do was speak.
I was mesmerized by the way you said my name.

I used to live for the ring of the phone.
I'd leap for it‚ you were merely seconds away
From being heard.
The moon would rise, and we'd still be
Talking.

Just talking.

One day,

something changed.
The sugar melted off your voice, slowly
At first.
That day, the sugar wasn't
Strong enough, and the cough-medicine taste
Was exposed with all the little white lies.

(The blessing of your voice has turned intoa curse.)

Your laugh,
Which used to resonate through my heart,
Matching the beats like a big bass drum,
Now scratches at my eardrums like a
Rusty rake scraping on the leafless driveway.

I wonder
Why I didn't see it before. You haven't changed.
The real you had always been there, hiding.
You were the king of hide-and-seek, but
Your own lovely voice gave you away in the end.