It was a Tuesday

i can’t help

but smile

at the worst moments,

as if a puppeteer

is controlling the

corners of my mouth

inside my skull

like the afternoon

we sat on the edge

of our (now my)

king-sized bed,

refusing to look

into each other’s

morose eyes

& i told you

i couldn’t do this life

with you anymore

& as we both sobbed,

our faces hiding between

our palms,

heavy, slow breaths

breaking the silence,

a smile forced its way

out,

i wanted to laugh

as if some gremlin

had taken over

because my brain

didn’t know how to cope,

i bit my lip to pull

it back,

tell it,

“now’s not the time,”

& i don’t think

you ever noticed

my smile that day

or

any of the days

before it.

Find the prompt here.