the sink in the kitchen won't stop dripping. when i sit on the living room couch i can hear it over the hum of the television and i think i've told you to fix it four times. every time you smile and tell me you will tomorrow. that's what you've always said. "i'll mop the floor-- tomorrow. i'll mow the yard-- tomorrow. i'll stop you from crying-- tomorrow." i'm beginning to think that you are just an endless closet of throw-away promises and old shoes that you used to wear when you liked to chase me. once you caught me, you took them off and never put them back on because you knew you'd never need to. they sit in the closet next to a pile of "tomorrow"'s and i don't let you see me cry anymore. you've long since forgotten how to make me stop.
the sink in the kitchen keeps dripping and it keeps me up at night. i once believed that our house was too small for the size of us but i can feel the cold seeping in from the corners because this house is empty. it has cobwebs inside the cupboards and dust bunnies under the bed; they keep our secrets company. i never told you how afraid i was to lose you— i tried and you shook your head and said "tomorrow." tomorrow. tomorrow.
maybe tomorrow will be better, i tell myself, maybe tomorrow you will clean the gutters, maybe tomorrow you will fix the sink, maybe tomorrow you will love me again; i've been told that you begin to develop the habits of the ones you love and i've started adding my "tomorrow'"s to the pile in the closet. they've covered your old shoes and you've forgotten what it was like to love me, and the sink in the kitchen won't stop dripping but it still works. you still come home every day, you barely talk to me, but you still come home.
i look at you, and i think about tomorrow. tomorrow. tomorrow. maybe tomorrow you won't come home. maybe i hope, deep down, that tomorrow, you won't. maybe eventually, these will be "tomorrow"'s that i won't add to the pile in the closet. there are pictures of us hung above the fireplace, and the mantle is covered with dust. the sink in the kitchen still drips, but i say "i love you" anyway. i hope you'll love me too, tomorrow.
(tomorrow; the boys i’ve loved and the end of the world)