I remember
The violets in your clenched fists
The daisy stems that bowed and broke with every tattered breath that fell from your cracked lips
In sepia toned scrapbooks, the sun rises and falls, the day begins only to end
With your smile
I still love you, always have
I don’t think I’ll ever stop
A twisted rosary, a delicate pearl necklace
I don’t notice the tears anymore
They’ve been falling since forever
I don’t notice the tightness in my chest
The thorns in my heart and the rotten overgrowth in my lungs
I hope you remember that twin flames like us never burn out
I hope you get to throw pebbles in the canyon and remark on how meaningless a single drop of water is in a desert
But you hydrate the cracks in the earth anyway in hopes that a beautiful blossom will take root in defiance of the harsh environment that dared to say it couldn’t
It isn’t fair that I can’t see you
Because they say we’re not family
But aren’t you the closest I ever had
If there was a way to trade lives, you know I’d lay down mine for you
I’d bet my last dollar on you
I’d swear on anything that you’ll be spitting fire and vinegar to the end
And maybe I’ll even be there too
If there’s any fairness in this world
Which you once argued there isn’t
Because you’d argue with a wall for an hour, you know you would
Anyway, if justice exists and she ever looks down on us mortals
I hope she’ll understand we belong together, to each other
Now and forever
Cradle to grave
Love you more than everyone else put together
Just say that you love me
Say you remember
Tell me that we’ll be standing here
Make me believe divine intervention couldn’t separate us
Because I don’t think I could handle it otherwise
I hope they never find me
At the forgotten ledge of a dry canyon, staring at sand and dust curled around a monument of pebbles that never meant anything at all to most people
Telling myself it was worth it