I caught a whiff of your old cologne today,
the scent embedded itself into the old coat I used to wear,
the one I packed away in a box,
in the back of my closet.

Memories came swirling back into my brain like a rainstorm,
the night we met,
drunken walks around the field.

The day we moved in together,
piling boxes next to our bed.

The fights we would have,
you screaming at the top of your lungs, throwing anything you could at me.

That night I locked myself in the bathroom when you came at me with a knife,
I knew then I should have left you.

The day I caught you kissing her,
underneath the sheets on the same bed.

The very last day I ever saw you,
as I placed that final box in my trunk,
you were trying so hard to make me stay.

I threw the coat in the trash today,
you stained years of my life with your poisonous love,
I can’t afford to let you get me sick again.

🐾