“I am nothing without you. ”
I know you don’t want me to say that.
Only swindlers and idiots say such things.

But I am,
“I am nothing without you.”

I am nothing without
The grunt of the floorboards
As you shuffle after midnight
in the room next door.

I am nothing without
Your whistling off-key as
You water our withering plants
On the balcony.

I am nothing without that familiar
Clink of your keys
Unlocking our front gate
As the daylight
Dies
With a loud whimper,
Stubbornly refusing to go gently
into the good night.

I am nothing without your
Blasting that retro love song
On the hi-fi
Yes, that used to be our song.
You don’t have to play it this loud.
After all, I know each riff,
Each hook,
On which we now hang our memories
Out to dry.

I am nothing without the groan
Of our bed
As you slump into a deep slumber
Or the clunk of our door
As you stumble out of your dreams
into a new day.

“I am nothing without you”
I am nothing without your many silences,
Like the Eskimos and their many words for snow.
Though I am never quite sure
what each  means.

I am nothing without your pauses,
Yawning like so many canyons,
yearning for me to fill them.
Though I am never quite certain
What to fill them with.

So please don’t laugh at me
If I say to you

I am nothing,

“I am nothing without you. ”

by Tan Siok Siok