after the death of a damaging bond

and before they reveal their unsurprising inability to commit

it’s carefully engineered by the nuances of chance encounters 

it’s gentle

or void of the conscious decision to overlook character flaws

it’s inviting 

or a dangerous desire to pick them apart

it’s tantalizing

or a connection once foreign to one another

it’s effortless agreeance 

or premature promises painted by incurable infatuation

two painfully similar mosaics moving at an incomprehensible rate

surely headed south toward

he’s crazy and

she’s needy and

he’s unavailable and

she’s too much

anger soothed by days of deafening silence

charming idiosyncrasies massacred by the wish to take it all back

seemingly resolved by a prideful exchange of words

blame placed here on one’s self

blame placed there on the other

left to ponder the potential 

the painful acceptance of a bruised ego

accompanied by a soul-sucking thought loop of satisfying regret and a pledge of innocence