Layla

by Colleen Hoover

The supernatural is the natural not yet understood. —Elbert Hubbard

I’d feel nothing if you punched me in the heart I’d feel even less if you stabbed me with a knife But I didn’t fall out of love with you I fell out of love with life I study the lyrics, convinced I’ve never written truer words. Nothing excites me anymore, it seems. Not even writing music. It feels like I’m opening wounds I’ve been trying to heal.

I wonder what happened in my childhood that makes me take on so much guilt, even when I’m not responsible for whatever is wrong. I take on the weight of Layla’s sorrows. Now I’m taking on the weight of Willow’s.

I showed up rich while feeling poor I didn’t knock but they opened the door Throwing stones, they pierce my eye Leave tiny cracks all down my spine We were royalty without a throne Our castle didn’t feel like home Echoes of “I love you” in the halls Our words absorbed into the walls I checked us in so we couldn’t leave Thought maybe time would make me believe If I took us back to the starting line We’d never cross the finish line

My hands may not be red But my heart, it feels the bleed If my soul had a neon sign It would read No Vacancy If my soul had a neon sign It would read No Vacancy

Or should we just pack up and leave before every line I’ve already crossed becomes a wall so high we can’t climb over?

a person doesn’t need it to be written down in order to know the difference between right and wrong.