How are you?

Have you ever been in love with someone who didn’t love you back?
Have you ever had to see or speak to that person regularly?
When they asked you, “How are you?”, what did you say?

And what did you actually want to say?

I force the word “fine” out of myself — my head feels tangled in barbed wire.

When asked, “What do you associate with the color blue?”, many answers come to mind,
but after reading “Bluets”, I can only say one thing: “blue eyes.”