wheelie

a boy

​on a bicycle

sails past me 

quietly, and 

in the light

of the lamp-post

near the grocery store

​​i see him

do a wheelie 

simply, freely 

and almost 

unceremoniously 

on the empty street

nothing that anyone else

might have seen

except the evening stars

his front wheel 

was silhouetted against. 

tie-breaker

i watch
this relationship
gasp for air

limbs flailing
it struggles
to survive

i am baffled
at how love
can be warped

twisted, skewed
and distorted
like a photoshop image

i am shocked at how

it can transform itself

into this

and i weep
till i feel

i might 

cough up
my intestines.

i go through

anger, bitterness

self-doubt
and disappointment

i try to save

bits and pieces frantically

but i realise that

at some point
the relationship
can't take its own weight

and in the end
i only want
to save myself.