I tell Jasmine,

Whenever something good happens

all I do is wait for the bad to come (because as much you laugh is as much you’ll cry, trust me my grandma told me that)

She stops for a beat, the soft evening light one with her mocha skin.

Jasmine says she never thinks anything is for the good

Who hurt us?

Who carries the weight of this vast blue sky,

Under which Jasmine and I walk

On a warm tropical winter evening

Young enough to still be excited about cigarettes

Our bodies soft as fish, us walking, nay, flowing with the warm currents

Secretly afraid the sky might fall on our shoulders, and then what?

Will it be heavier than this heart we carry? (the metaphorical one)

Jasmine never believes anything is for the good.

Jasmine is in love. You can see it in her eyes.

We walk back to the hostel, and I can already see her drifting apart.

As time’s tectonic plates shift,

I am here

And she will be somewhere else

But today, we are together.

Jasmine is in love and I am just walking.