I knew you far too briefly. Your eyes wild with delight, whose hands I thought would always be at my side. I ache, lying in a bed of haunted memories. I thought I would easily forget your touch, but my dreams reassure me that my memory is fine.
I climbed trees and you followed. You looked up at me with such adoration, but I was too absorbed with the distance between the sun and I. I remain selfish to this day. I miss the warmth of your back.
I keep this short because that is how much time was spent together. I close my eyes, and I’m back in the days of unabashed laughter and sun. We are carving our lives parallel when in actuality it veers off the map. For a time, the thought of you without I was inconceivable. It was incalculable. I would laugh and tell you that nothing is impossible.
And here we are.
Once, it was you and I. The world stood still. It took me an hour to get to your house. Your eyes closed and your ribs hurt from my tale. My cheeks couldn’t hold the voracity of my smile. The future meant adventure and excitement; the clock has slowed to a stop.
If I concentrate enough, I am back in our favorite tree. Before its limbs were severed and our ties as well, before the day became night, and our eyes became silent. I can feel the wind beneath my feet and ants make a home out of my hands.
I look down at you. Now, you look down on me. Forever, we are just children playing in a tree.
“Please don’t ever leave my sight.”
Royal Rose 