I stay dressed in mementos,
linked to each reason
ghosts give to the remaining,
they’re a lullaby hibernating deep inside,
dormant until the right season nears.

I keep trying to find ways to bring us back,
where we'll be ready to know one another again.

Your hand, nervous and soft in mine,
the winds seeping through our clothes and bones,
a song in my ears I used to know but it’s been too long,
a faultless cadence invoking remnants,
a vague sensation of your hand running down my cheek.

There are too many embers scattered here,
Too many moments apart that have become growing vines,
The skilled predator circling around my heart,
but with each fraction being methodically snuffed out,
some certainties remain.

I’m certain there’s a reminder of love in each flash of lightning,
crawling the sky like jagged veins,
even if every night from here will be left cold with premonition,
as we let other identities gracefully slip in unnoticed.

I stay covered in your skin,
tethered to every promise spirits make to the remaining,
they’re a lullaby swimming inside,
asleep until time figures out a way to replace the flames,
the spark and wick that knew how to join like nothing else.

Your hand, perfect and safe in mine,
as embers brush us and turn to snowing ashes,
a story I once had memorized but it’s been too long,
passages only summoning hazy metaphors,
a fleeting sensation of you reaching for me in a shower’s steamy womb.

There are too many shards scattered here,
too many strands dimming by the month,
the faceless cancer surrounding the pathways I once protected your legacy within,
with each fraction reluctantly unclasping,
some certainties remain untouched.

I’m certain love's remainders are everywhere,
certain of your perfume hovering through the air,
each time rain batters the earth,
vulnerable mementos shivering with premonition and age,
as a new identity slithers inside unnoticed.

I stay covered in you,
tying together as lovers and needful entities always do,
the joining a verse your silky lips to hum,
as we wait for time to bring us face to face again,
even as strangers reaching after sparks shimmer out,
we can be ready to love one another again.