The first time I saw her..
Everything in my head went quiet.
Everything in my head went quiet.
All the ticks, all the constantly
refreshing images just disappeared.
When you have Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder, you don’t really get quiet moments.
Even in bed, I’m thinking:
Did I lock the doors? Yes.
Did I wash my hands? Yes.
Did I lock the doors? Yes.
Did I wash my hands? Yes.
Did I wash my hands? Yes.
Did I lock the doors? Yes.
Did I wash my hands? Yes.
But when I saw her, the only
thing I could think about was the hairpin curve of her lips..
Or the eyelash on her cheek—
the eyelash on her cheek—
the eyelash on her cheek.
Or the eyelash on her cheek—
the eyelash on her cheek—
the eyelash on her cheek.
I knew I had to talk to
her.
I asked her out six times in thirty
seconds.
She said yes after the third one,
but none of them felt right, so I had to keep going.
On our first date, I spent more time
organizing my meal by color than I did eating it, or talking to
her..
But she loved it.
But she loved it.
She loved that I
had to kiss her goodbye sixteen times or twenty-four times at
different times of the day.
She loved that it
took me forever to walk home because there are lots of cracks
on our sidewalk.
When we moved in together, she said
she felt safe, like no one would ever rob us because I definitely lock
the door eighteen times.
I’d always watch her mouth when
she talked—
when she talked—
when she talked—
when she talked;
when she said she loved me, her mouth would curl up at the edges.
when she talked—
when she talked—
when she talked;
when she said she loved me, her mouth would curl up at the edges.
At night, she’d lay in bed and watch
me turn all the lights off.. And on, and off, and on, and off, and on,
and off, and on, and off, and on, and off.
She’d close her eyes and imagine that the days and nights were passing in front of her.
She’d close her eyes and imagine that the days and nights were passing in front of her.
But then.. She said I was taking
up too much of her time.
That I couldn’t kiss her goodbye so
much because I was making her late for work..
When she said she loved me, her
mouth was a straight line..
When I stopped in front of a crack
in the sidewalk, she just kept walking..
And last week she started sleeping
at her mother’s place.
She told me that she shouldn’t have
let me get so attached to her; that this whole thing was a mistake, but..
How can it be a mistake that I don’t
have to wash my hands after I touch her?
Love is not a mistake, and it’s
killing me that she can run away from this and I just can’t.
I can’t go out and find
someone new because I always think of her.
Usually, when I obsess over things,
I see germs sneaking into my skin.
I see myself crushed my an endless succession of cars..
And she was the first beautiful thing I ever got stuck on.
I see myself crushed my an endless succession of cars..
And she was the first beautiful thing I ever got stuck on.
I want to wake up every morning
thinking about the way she holds her steering wheel..
How she turns shower knobs like she opening a safe.
How she turns shower knobs like she opening a safe.
How she blows out candles—
blows out candles—
blows out candles—
blows out candles—
blows out—….
blows out candles—
blows out candles—
blows out candles—
blows out—….
Now, I just think about who else
is kissing her.
I can’t breathe because he only
kisses her once—he doesn’t care if it’s perfect!
I want her back so bad..
I leave the door unlocked.
I leave the lights on.
