When She Came Back

Emmanuel Okodo

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Emmanuel Okodo

Tuesday 16 September 2025

When She Came Back

She left before,
and I told myself that was the end of it.
That love does not knock twice
on the same broken door.

But here she is again,
wearing the same perfume as the goodbye,
asking about my day
like we were never strangers.

We did that often,
asked each other questions
whose answers we already knew.
Have you eaten?
What are you doing today?
Small talk dressed as care,
care disguised as distance.
We rehearsed closeness
so we would not have to admit
how far we had drifted.

It was safer than asking
why she left,
or why I waited so long
with the door half open.
Maybe I let her back in
because I always felt empty without her.
Like the air was thinner,
the flowers duller,
the days a lot less bearable.
She made everything seem a little richer.
Not healing,
but somehow
something even better.

Perhaps it was so
we would not ask the real questions,
the ones swollen with silence,
the ones that might unravel
this fragile thing
we are pretending is new.

And suddenly
I am staying up till 3 a.m. again,
with tears running down my face.
Which is strange,
because just a month ago
I thought I was healed.