I polished my heart
Placed it in a gift-wrapped box 
Topped with a handwritten note 
I left it on your doorstep 

You picked up the package
Put your ear to it and rattled it 
Shrugged and put it in the closet 
Left to collect dust in the shadow

Days into months into years 
I bore cracked lips and hollow eyes
Shaky breaths and achy bones
I needed to get back what was mine 

When I returned to ask for it back
You denied ever having received it 
Said you couldn’t remember holding on
Said you would never keep something that wasn’t yours

I lurked outside your tinted windows 
Waited for hours hoping to catch a glimpse 
Until I spotted a gift-wrapped box 
Topped with a handwritten note 

The box was unopened 
The letter was sealed 
Sitting on the top shelf of a closet 
Amongst the clutter of your life 

I waited until the lights went out 
Until silence was the only sound 
Blended with the night 
And walked right in 

You never heard me come in 
You never heard me leave 
I grabbed my parcel 
And took one last look at my past before me 

The time you placed a hundred band-aids on my scars 
The time I cried on the floor 
The time your eyes looked longingly into mine 
The time we laughed so hard I thought we could die 

Ghosts of us lit up the room around me 
One last glance at our possibility
One last moment of vulnerability
I shut the door away from that reality

I held the air in my lungs 
As I carefully unwrapped the box 
My heart lay bare upon colored shredded paper 
Bruised and barely beating 

I picked it up, heavy as it was 
And brought it to my lips 
“I’ll never let you out of my sight again,
I swear this to you, my friend” 

I unbuttoned my shirt
And pushed my heart back into my chest 
Time will heal this wound
For now, it’s time to rest