layers of jackets hung over chairs, doodles on desks.   lingering nightmares, people sit statuesque.  the days and hours and minutes melt everywhere; smells of coffee and freshly sharpened pencils fill my wares.  a softness covers my body.  fluorescence illuminates the world in pixels; as time melts and space paints galaxies in your eyes, eternity drips onto my hands and freezes like ice.  

somewhere in the middle i hear a constant hum; calling me from somewhere i cant see.  reverberating in the lake between slumber and living i am overcome; the darkness is calling my name to be set free.  painful and deafening, i cover my ears but i can't hear myself scream.  louder and louder,

it was only a dream.

so i push open the heavy doors of my heart and let the cold air envelop me.  i don't ever want to depart,  your warm hand wrapped around mine is the only thing that feels true.  snow settles softly on the ground around me, the cold numbs my bones.  streetlights turn off like a tide from the sea, then the sun rises with pink and yellow tones.   stars fade away softly, from the opalescent glow of moonlight on your cheeks the sunlight grows.  light creeps on the world around us calmly, and into splendid color erupts the universe from an eternity of monochrome; everything reflects in your eyes, a deep brown that reminds me of home.  but here we're somewhere in the middle, between silent silver evenings alone and a golden spark that could kindle something more.  in the space between our intertwined fingers, the cold knits a thin layer of frost crystal.  your breaths exhaled swirl in the air between laughter and silence, your crooked smile with a dimple, and all of your perfect imperfections hide in a balance.  a balance between you and her, the effortless ways to assuage all that you challenge.  but i can count every time that you've saved me, lessened the blow of reality.  picked up my shattered pieces that crashed like waves from the sea.

on the quietest of days i hear the most epiphanic piano ballads.  every day with you is full of texture and music.  echoing in the corners of my mind and mixing like paint on my pallets, melodies so colorful, beautiful and acoustic.  playing my cassette of acoustic guitar, clear nights on the open road we quietly listen.  beams of headlights run along side the interior of the car, catching brief glimpses of your figure hidden.  without anything meaningless to say, you would sit quietly day to day.  but i moved beside you, and your arm wrapped around me.  i could feel every rise and fall of your soft breaths, fingers intertwined, my head on your chest.  if this moment lasted for eternity..

but would i still love you,
if i couldn't ever lose you?

sometimes when we walk through hallways full of bustling people, we don't talk much.  the space in between is so peaceful.  on your arm with a soft touch,  running to catch up as colors cascade behind me.  you turn around and suddenly i'm icarus, before the fall i feel like i'm flying.  a quick smile crinkles your face and i fall burning to the surface.  

i'm running to you in a dream, about to wake up; brushstrokes cast a blurry curtain around you, sitting in a painting of forget-me-nots and buttercups.  and yet your life is like a photo with every correct hue,
whispering 'come with me'.
in a picture of detail in stunning reality,

a reality where you

are separate from me;

caught in this in-between.