Close to You

We met in the quad, late autumn Sun
You laughed my jokes
Sai I was the one

Classes and coffee
Names carved on a seat
You said yes and my world felt complete

But small fears grew like cracks in the floor
I checked your phone
I watched you more

I wanted you close
I wanted you near
Promise my heart
Promise I'd care

Now every smile is a proof of a lie
Every hello is a threat I can't deny
This love is chain, cold and precise
You are my map
My vice
My vice

Dinner with friends
You smile at the waiter
I replay that moment until I was later

I sent a hundred texts
I showed up unannounced
You flinched, you cried
My jealousy pounced

Bruises hid under sweaters, excuses rehearsed
You locked your journal and I rehearsed worse
They say possessiveness wears a thin face
Mine wore patience until it found a place

I wanted you close
I wanted you near
Promise my heart
Promise I'd care

I followed your friends
I traced every ring
Turned harmless talk into a sting

This love is a lock without a key
I am the night you cannot see

You walked into the station with a trembling hand
You laid out the messages, the threats, the plans
An officer wrote dates, photos, the bruise
A detective said, We'll do what we can to prove

They filed a report, they asked for names
They put a temporary order to block my games
But paper is thin when someone knows the streets
I melted into crowds, slipped past all beats

They canvassed the block, checked cameras by the diner
Neighbors described a shadow, the man who watched her
Days blurred into nights, you slept with the phone
Every chirp made you flinch, you stayed alone

I learn their patterns
I learn their times
I learn where they were weak and where they left blinds

You thought the badge meant safety assured
But paper cracks and hearts get lured

I wanted you close
I wanted you near
Promise my heart
Promise I'd care

You thought the law would draw a clean line
You thought your name could still be mine

This love is closed doors, then finds the key
You breathe and hope, you still breathe with me

One midnight I came to your building, shoes soft on tile
A balcony door unlatched, I stood there a while
You woke to footsteps, you pressed 9 with a whisper
Neighbors heard a crash, a shout, a slipper

911 logged your plea, dispatch sent a car
Headlights rounded the corner, sirens not far
I stood in the doorway, I said No one will save you
You ran through the house while the hallway gave a view

An officer kicked the door, two more filled the frame
A neighbor's testimony matched the camera's name
I lunged at the window, a struggle on wood
An officer sprayed, then a taser did good

Cold cuffs clicked on my wrists, they read me my rights
Metal tasted like fate under flashing lights
They booked me on assault, on stalking, on threats
Photos taken, fingerprints inked, my life in cleft sets

I wanted you close
I wanted you near
Promise my heart
Promise I'd care

They put me in a van, they slammed the door shut
You watched from the stoop with a face drained of trust
In booking they asked Do you understand?
I smiled with a promise, a future unplanned

You breathed a moment, thinking the nightmare broke
But obsession is patient, it's a thin, careful cloak
I whisper through bars that my voice will not cease
You sleep with the bolt, I sleep with that piece

You think their law can pin me down for good
You think a cell can stop what's been understood
But love like mine writes on the walls at night
I carve your name in the dark with a spite

They led me away, lights painting the rain
You watched the patrol car fade down the lane
You changed the locks, you moved your books, you prayed
You still wake at dawn, afraid of the day

He's in jail, they tell you, he's finally caught
But shadows don't vanish just because of a spot
I say it plain through the bars where I dwell
This never ends, you are mine still