Best Poems Written by Bella Ratner

Gone

Restlessly you stare
at a ripped old photograph
Your eyes stuck to the smile on your face
to the smile on mine.

Only you knew,
That when I smiled like that,
As wide as I could without showing my teeth, 
That I was happy. 

You knew this because 
Only you knew that I was embarrassed by my teeth.
And only you knew why.

You recall that time I told you. 
As we laid on the wet hammock,
I painfully told you the details of my childhood.

The hammock was wet because it had just stopped raining.
We both loved the world right after,
That damp air, 
The world letting go,
 becoming free. 

as I told you the stories,
You listened,
Softly stroking my hair just the way I liked it. 

You were happy,
I was too.
We had each other,
We had everything.

But now, all I have is darkness.
And all you have is a 
Dull, empty photograph
Sending sharp knives through your heart.

Copyright © Bella Ratner | Year Posted 2013