6/1/11

Check Mate
By Laura Maddox


The doorbell wakes me up...
I didn't know you were coming over.
The clock in the corner reads 1:23
and I cringe at the chronological order
that juxtaposes so horribly with
the mess in my head.

I'm not the kind of person
to leave you on the doorstep
but I know you would
run over me with freight train force
so I lay the tracks and let you enter.

It know it would've been easier to sip
coffee in silence and ignore
the whistle of the metal machine
that is whipping past us
stirring up all our old memories
but our relationship was never easy.

When the coffee is done brewing
I offer you hazelnut cream
but I quickly become aware
that all you've poured into your cup
is a few splashes of sarcasm
and a spoonful of the latest news.

You take a sip and prop
yourself up on the kitchen counter
diagonally mocking me
like a chess piece
waiting to make a move.
The patterned tiles don't help the illusion.

I lean back and look away
pretending that
I'm not falling to pieces.
But I was put back together
with a glue-stick after all
and everyone knows those never do.

My mind is telling me to
to walk you out,
to leave the room,
to scream until I'm speechless
but the truth is
I don't want to.

You cross the room with that charm
that always got to me.
(our coffee has gone cold)
The clock in the corner reads 1:55...
check mate.


- - -
I'm Laura Maddox, a 19-year-old sophomore at Appalachian State University. I love to write, drink coffee, watch movies, cook, read and dream about one day living in a big city. I've never been in love but I don't let that stop me from writing love poems!