The Heartbreak That Never Happened

He believes that their love for him can change like the onset of a storm,

unexpectedly fast by how soon the grey swallows the sky.

He reads people like storybooks, hungry and desperate,

a wolf preying on itself, learning that nature and nurture

mean more than a few letter differences.

He sees her leave the room too quickly,

taking the air with her, inhaling blue heaviness

as he waits by the telephone.

He takes short answers as being cut out of their life slowly,

starting with the words, then the drifting of eyes, then the heart.

And every night, his heart breaks for what never happens.