The weight of tacitness

- on how loudly I can scream your name -
twenty-five years ago
my partner standing three steps away
I learned in drama class
that every so often no one wants to scream,
but sometimes it is necessary.

In my favorite 'chick movie'
there is a girl who asks a boy to walk away for fifteen meters
so she can shout out everything she is afraid to tell
to his face.
Her 'I love you' is ultimately abducted by the wind.
The boy never hears it.

I have this recurring dream in which
you leave again and I want to stop you
but when I open my mouth
no sound comes out of it
and I wake up crying because I know
how easy it is for you to just go.