I step outside to clear my head

–Saying that phrase to myself takes me back to other usages when the pain was overpowering and it seems absurd—

and got a faceful of tiny, cold raindrops.

I kept walking resolutely up the pavement,

my blue jumper dotted with the tiny dark traces of moisture

till all I could think was rain.

I turned back.

When I listen beyond the ticking clock and the whirring laptop,

listen below the surface,

I remember you saying I can hear your heart,