GRIEF Poem: Green, by Zula Jayne

You say it’s your favorite color.

Is that why you seem to enjoy when the red of my cheeks makes that shade stand out in my eyes?

And yet, when I don a dress in the same tone,
you leave deep scars on my self-image. Deeper than
most of the ones I gave myself on my skin.

I remember being excited for the holiday season, where our two favorite colors lit up our apartment.

Yet now, the love drains from my chest, leaving a darkness
that I would rather have swallow me
than exist in the landscape you created.