You were left behind
A victim of a mirage I’d stepped into
One yellow rain boot too deep.

You, slithering out of your cases
Scratched by the fading sunlight
Are my prized possession
For every moment you held inside
Was as carefree
As the words I spoke.

You were delicate artwork
not art as in paintings that were to be hung
carefully in the front of a museum
but the ones curling at the corners
slipping from underneath fridge magnets.

With my eyes pinned on the screen
seeping into my temples
Your naked feet fumbled with the sand
Fumbled with the hopping and twirling toes
of beach dancers
Fumble with the endless badges you have gained
over the ribbon on your chest
places you have gone
but, it is all as futile as it is alluring

sand is just tiny, little rocks
You will fade, these images
will fade from my memory

like the endless
titles in a bookstore
and I will return to my reflection
ingrained in silver circle.