That Time We Didn’t Know What To Say

Summary

The text reflects on the emotional aftermath of losing a loved one, highlighting the profound impact of their absence on the narrator's daily life.

Abstract

The narrative captures a poignant moment of silent reflection, where the narrator, in a conversation with themselves, grapples with the loss of someone named Richard. The dialogue, filled with long pauses and moments of realization, oscillates between the reality of his absence and the dream-like memory of their past encounters. The author uses the metaphor of geological time and celestial events to emphasize the depth of the narrator's heartache and the enduring nature of their love. The narrative concludes with the narrator waking from a dream, comforting their cat, and affirming their undying love and memories of Richard, despite the disbelief at his passing.

Opinions

The narrator experiences a profound sense of loss and disbelief at the death of Richard, indicating a deep emotional connection.
The use of a pause that spans the creation of the moon symbolizes the vast emptiness and silence left by Richard's death.
The mention of empires rising and falling and the heart becoming a red giant conveys a sense of time's vastness and the permanence of the narrator's feelings.
The dream-like interaction suggests a longing to maintain a connection with Richard, despite the reality of his absence.
The act of waking up and comforting the cat, while silently affirming love and commitment, illustrates the narrator's struggle to reconcile their inner turmoil with the mundane aspects of life.
The resolution never to forget Richard and the declaration of eternal love signifies the narrator's commitment to honoring Richard's memory.

Poetry: Our first meeting after those first two kisses

“Hi” I say.

“Hi” you say.

“What’s up? What have you been up to?” I say.

“Same old.” You say. “Playing some video games.”

There is a pause so long that the proto-planet that exploded bits of Earth and ricocheted off has had time to cool off to become the moon.

Earth empires rise and fall.

My blush — and my heart — has eons to become a red giant.

You smile so softly, it might be a wispy illusion. We sway, insubstantial mist swept back and forth across all those hazy decades.

The every day of every day desiccates such delusions.

Ever so slowly, I realize the cat beside the bed is meowing.

I wake up.

Dry deserts of dust are drenched away with just one teary drop.

I soothe the cat with drawn-out, muted strokes

Never. I resolve . Always. I blubber.

“I’ll never forget you. I will always love you.” I sigh.

“I still can’t believe you are dead, Richard.”

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