words were
billowing
from that conversation,

unravelling in spools
& hanging
half way between
the ocean and the sky.

the only power I had left
was language

and I only had

a small amount
of that.

***

you told me
there is no such thing
as a love affair
without a paper trail

all human relations
rendered by
the quiet testimony
of week old emails
& paper notes stuck
to the fridge.

by the end I decided
to go scorched earth
with you

not a scrap
of evidence
would be left
anywhere.