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Vielleicht

  • nova
  • 19 minutes ago
  • 4 min read

Strobe lights, sweat, and cigarette smoke

Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt

Synth onslaught, the rhythm is coursing

Through my bloodstream

Striking every cell with

A sweet carelessness

I’m dizzy… ish, swaying

Not exactly sure if it’s

The skull rattling bass

Or maybe the tequila martinis 

Thump, thump, thump

I almost mistake it

For your hearbeat

And how it raced under my hands


Dark jeans and a white shirt

Drenched

The aftermath of too many dances

Who gave you the right

To look so damn good

Under flashing lights

Walking back to me with

Another round

“Cheers,”

Your voice has gone 

Raspier and darker after

All that smoke.

Oh, you bastard. 

I’ve never been any good at that

Inhibition thing

And your voice is 

Definitely not helping. 


The ink stamp on your wrist

Smudged towards the left

Just a little bit

Your hand around the glass,

I force my eyes up

To keep my thoughts

Contained to decency.

There is a little scar, almost a speck

Near your jawline

Which does things 

To my self control.


My fingers drift up and I trace 

The sharp line up to your ear

Your eyebrows shoot up,

“What,” I say.

“What,” I shout.

Over the crowd,

The wave around our little

Bubble of tension. 


You say nothing,

And let me trace your jaw

And try not to

Turn it into a grab

Grab you and pull you closer

Maybe feel your breath

Mix it with mine

And forget all the reasons why

We ended up in a sea of

Bodies moving in a haze.


I realize you’re expecting

Me to decide

Whether I want to go back

To being the needy brat I was

Mere minutes ago.

Instead, I opt for cheesy

A cheap throw-away line

To salvage the impossibility of this

“You could cut someone with that jaw.”

Wow. 

Astonishing level of 

Deflect.

Yeah, that’s something I am good at

At least. 


The sea moves relentlessly against us

As you pull me deeper into

The sway,

I can’t tell which way is right or left

Up and down

Maybe it’s everywhere at once

But my compass points to your neck

And the vein there, pulsing

To the vibration emanating from

The giant d&b speakers


Thud, thud, thud, thud

In sync with the hands of your watch

Each tick tock moving us forward

Never freezing

Oh how I want to stay in this bubble

Drown in the sweat,

The liquor and your perfume.

Midnight is creeping in, and I don’t like it

I’ve never believed in fairy tales

But tonight I understand

How Cinderella must have felt

Except she never went 

To gritty clubs, reeking of bad judgement


Time, just a little more time,

All I need before you disappear

Store me away in a corner of your mind

Lost among the lies and scattered

False hopes you bestow upon those

Poor souls who believe that maybe

You will somehow give them more,

Maybe, maybe, maybe. 


Your hands start roaming, 

Yanking me back to your lips

Following the goosebumps on my shoulders

Up to my neck, under my ear

“Stop that,” I whine, in your ear

In the exact tone

That I know you love to ignore

You mumble something that is suspiciously like

Asking if I’m sure

I tug on your hair, the strands giving way

“Let the maybe swallow me,” I whimper

At the exact moment 

You choose to bite

Down on that sensitive spot

I’d mentioned in passing

Earlier, way back

Sipping our very first 

Bad decisions. 


Maybe

Kiss

It 

Touch

Doesn’t 

Hands

Have 

Lips

To 

Groan

End 

Inhale

At

Exhale

“Maybe”. 


Thump or thud

I can’t even hear the bass anymore

All I can feel is

Every single cell in my body

Gravitating towards yours

Seeking a resolution

That doesn’t end 

In unanswered texts

Circling the unsaid reality

That it never mattered 

Or perhaps an absolution

From any future feelings

One of us will never catch.


A bright flash, and suddenly

It’s all out in the open

Frozen with my hand on your jaw

You jerk away in confusion

Or shame, I don’t know

Staring at me with a face

I can’t decipher

Under the glaring lights

“Let’s go,” you tug on my hand

Leading me out

Before the security guards flank us

And assume we are together

Maybe. 


The air bites my skin, harsh

I regret not taking a jacket with me

Queen of bad decisions

What else did you expect?

Your eyes look different under the street lights

A little more distant, not quite landing

On me, as if searching for reasons

To keep me around a little longer

And finding none


“Well, that was fun,” I whisper,

No longer the brat shining

With each flash of the strobe lights

Just a regular girl,

Just me.

“Mmhmm,” you nod, “I guess I’ll call you later”

I don’t say anything,

Let the silence make you think

That I believe you.

I don’t. 


A small kiss on my temple, 

And a half hearted see you,

You turn around and walk away

Your hand goes to the left side of your jaw

Scratching away the awkwardness

I left on your skin

I stand there, watch your silhouette 

Saunter away.

The cold weather wrapped

Around me

And all the maybes 

You’ve left 

On my skin.


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