The day I find you
is the day I forget I
was looking for you

8:28 PM
4/2/23

you are a sunflower that
coats this ground in petals.
They form a path for me to follow,
a path that will always bring me
back to you.

My silence is
every word, every scream
I have had to swallow.

Trust is confessing
you are smothered in oil
to the person holding
the match.

If I did not travel to that country,
If I did not attend that class,
If I did not take that job,
I would have missed out
on the best moments of my life.
But as grateful as I am,
I sometimes wonder
how many people I never met,
all the places I never went
if I had chosen a different path
and all of the memories
I would have instead.

Why do I still
feel you in my bones?
Memories still fill my chest,
leaving butterflies in their wake
just as you once did.

I was in love with a wasteland
because it was once home to sunflowers.
My memories had become locusts
and left nothing to grow in their wake.
Little did I know that the sunflowers
did not stand a chance.