The Casual Cut, Or, No One Meant To

"Oh, I just assumed you were going to do X,"

they said, like it was nothing, a stray thought,

a feather on the breeze.

And then the shrug. That little,

innocent shrug. And the bright, quick smile,

so free of malice, so clean.

But it wasn't nothing.

It was the whole other road

I'd been walking, in my head.

The one I hadn't quite named,

but was building, brick by slow brick.

And with that breath, that casual

assumption, they just

kicked it all down.

Didn't even know they did it.

That's the worst part, maybe.

The cold knot, it formed then,

right here, below the ribs.

A slow, quiet ache.

And I just nodded,

said, "Oh, right."

And swallowed the rest.

The dust.