"Love and pain go hand in hand"*
he said to me with roses.
And on the concrete ground where our eyes first met
the thorns cut thru my static, once numb chest.
He took the key he crafted when lands forced us to part
And the chains remained binding, wrapped so tight,
locked to him forever more.

He bound me up that night at the docks,
the city rush became the soundtrack of newfound love.
We imprinted our existence to his leather-bound book,
a story that became etched into my soul
in a language only he could decode.
Time passed quicker than the cars I almost still hear echo.
Too soon he was locked in pages of the past

That night at the docks, the willows enraptured,
welcoming us home, we found our kingdom.
We clung to the scarce grass as if we could hold
on to that moment in time for eternity.
It blew on with the wind, singing a cadence on repeat,
so deceptive yet ever resolving
Each second became the last
Being late never tasted so bittersweet;
For we became kids with no concept of time
and no grasp for words.
Silence never resonated so loud
as when we lost all will to speak.

I yearned to learn every reflection of your black hole iris
Longed to learn each blinding shimmer, no matter how lost I might have become
I felt something in a familiar gaze,
a desire forgotten0, or not yet found
The water before us mirrored broken reflections of his sparking eyes
The skyline before us could have never over shined
his beautiful silhouette, illuminated beyond the moon, city or stars.
But, love and pain go hand in hand
I am forever more reminded by these scars