there’s a game we play,
that we sit for. we sit down for it,
and once we do, it begins:
call me a name. i’ll call yours. then,
facing each other, two greetings,
pleasantries,
eye contact. this is the game, now:

speak and i speak. smile and i’ll lie. tell
the truth and you lose. tell the truth and i’ll
lie.
vice versa;

there’s a game we play.
it’s hard to put into words,
because we both know that
our words aren’t enough—
not enough for lies, truths,
smiles and goodbyes.

it’s hard to put into verse because
it never stops. 

it’s hard to explain
how we play the game alone now,
silently to an empty chair.