In My Apothecary

in my apothecary
glass bottles line the walls,
each cradling something i should have let go
a tincture of regret
thick as honey
a vial of laughter
stolen from a time
when your hands still fit into mine

there’s dust on the shelves
on my tongue,
on the words i never said when i should have.
i measure heartbreak in milliliters,
bitter on the back of my throat,
but i drink it anyway
some poisons are meant to be savored

here
the past ferments in amber jars
and i
the foolish alchemist
keep trying to distill pain into something beautiful
but love doesn’t dissolve in ethanol,
and memories don’t burn clean

outside,
the world moves on
but in my apothecary
time is a slow leak
a crack in the glass
a whisper in the dark,
the scent of you
preserved in the air like an old perfume
that still makes me ache