Sunk

You told me that each
word I spoke was poetry
and so I stopped speaking
when you walked away.
I never wanted this clench
in my stomach to be
inspiration. I didn't want
to poeticize you back
into my life. And now,
my shoulders are tense,
years later with regret
of what I never could say.
It wasn't love. It was friendship
we sailed until I was banned
with barely a lifeboat.
And there will never be
enough poetry to fix
the sinking emotion of
loneliness that has submerged
me for so long.