Take Me with You
“Take me with you.”
These were the words he woke up to,
on a note left on his nightstand.
Though asleep when she left it,
he clearly pictured her,
first standing in the doorway,
hoping he was awake,
before retreating into the bed that used to be theirs.
How many nights did he know she stood there,
but feigned being asleep?
Seeking reconciliation and comfort,
in attempts at salvaging their
shared promise of forever.
A promise now buried
after being on life support for far too long.
All he had to do was invite her in.
And maybe they could fix what was once
so beautiful and pure.
Maybe, it could have been different.
Would have been different.
One last ditch effort in
the waning days of sharing the apartment
where they once cried with joy
when they finally had a place to call their own.
Though it was still theirs for a little while longer,
they were simply going through the motions,
as he awaited his new lease
set to begin the following month.
Before her new roommate would move in.
Though they never officially broke up,
what else could this be?
They were blinded by the denial,
that clouded the obvious steps
they had taken to ensure a slow, prolonged death.
“Take me with you.”
Day trips and weekend getaways
had been their thing from the start.
But today, he needed a solo pilgrimage
to get away and clear his head.
A fall getaway and return
to their favorite beach town.
Their first trip to northern Michigan.
It would always be “their” town;
their shared paradise.
But now, it would have to be shared separately.
How was this possible?
“Take me with you.”
How could he say no?
One last trip.
An eulogy for an unexpected break-up.
That neither saw coming.
Yet, did nothing to stop it when they could.
It was time for one last happy memory,
following a deluge of unhappy ones.
A memory that could exist
non-canonically outside the context
of their sad timeline.
A bittersweet coda,
with no turning back.
Even if they wanted to.
Rain was in the forecast.
A high of 43.
In total contrast to the bright summer day
when they first came.
But they would make the most of it.
Just like they used to do.
When being together was
more important than where they were,
or, where they were going.
As they drove,
they listened to their “infinite playlist”,
which had been finite for quite awhile now.
The last song was added over two months ago.
just before their long fall.
Neither one would listen to it again after this trip,
but neither one would delete it, either.
“Take me with you.”
When they arrived,
they headed straight to the empty beach,
stars of their own black and white art film
like the kind they used to watch together.
Not another soul in sight,
as though the world
was giving them space to mourn.
Against the backdrop of a beach enveloped
in a foreboding fog,
mixed with a misty drizzle,
and a whirling, whipping wind.
Even the red lighthouse
jutting out in the distance
was bleached out
like a ghostly figure shrouded in fog,
as violent waves splashed against it.
Though neither did anything about it,
they both secretly longed to hold one another,
as both shelter from the cold,
and a last chance to salvage themselves,
before they faded forever into the mist.
“Take me with you.”
But sometimes, it’s too late,
even when you don’t want it to be.
What they did take with them
was one last memory.
A memory as sweet and beautiful as their first.
Steeped in melancholy and sadness.
A memory they would always carry in their pocket.
“Take me with you.”
He moved out as planned.
And over time, they both moved on
from one another.
Though, we can never fully move on from
these sort of things.
“Take me with you.”
He held on to that note for the rest of his days.
A final, sad promise.
But not in the way
they had promised once upon a time.
As these things so often go.
