I. “All you who labor and are heavy laden…
Misunderstood–again.
Heart trampled,
Torn to pieces.
You throw your head
back. A nasally laugh
squeezes past the
roof of your mouth
before you bite down
hard. Clenched teeth,
sharp inhale.
You hold your breath.
Silence as you sit
across from her.
The table, a chasm
between you.
You reach across,
an arm extended.
Your tongue offers
a mending phrase.
But her sharp reply
stings your skin,
and deep you
feel the pain.
II. …Come to Me…
You hear a word
pulled from the deep
recesses of the Spirit:
“Murabeho [1], goodbye.”
Say it to her.
Let her go.
III. …And I will give you rest.”
Goodbye. Not a
clean break but a
steady undoing
of habits and associations
that took years to form.
You held her, dear,
until she began to
burn your fingers.
FOOTNOTE
1: “Goodbye” in Kinyarwanda.
Sarah Gantt, former Editor-in-Chief of The Williams Telos, graduated from Williams College in June 2023 with a Bachelor’s in Art History and English and a minor in French. She currently teaches English in Kigali, Rwanda as a Fulbright grantee. In her free time, she uses her writing and editing experience to help local arts organizations with various projects.