Pain dies quicker than love, they say

as I held your hand as your
heart stopped

and took your last breath
into my mouth

my pierced lips clamped over yours,
red meeting blue, blending into purple

colours mixed by artless hands
a shadow on a grainy photograph

the last image of our love
prised from my fist

pain dies quicker than love, they say
and I loved you too much

to care