Ten.
It is the first time my fingers slip into the spaces between yours
It's not usually okay but this time you don't mind
A light rain is placing droplets of shimmer on your lashes and your smile
We mess up the lyrics of a song that we thought we knew
The flowers scratch our legs as we walk through fields of wonder

Nine
It is the first time you come over
My mother makes you cheese sandwiches that you nibble on
I let you into my only safe haven
You run your fingers along the worn-down spines on my hand-me-down shelves
I tape my solar system mobile to a corner near my bed
You ask me about the words on my wall
And all i can tell you is that it's how I got found

Eight.
I tell you about the first one who owned my heart
He was of blue symphonies and stormy shadows
He used to smile at me like I was magic
And you tell me about yours
A boy of star blood and a mind like the sea
He used to spill wonder all over his floors

Seven.
This is the time that I don't know where to go
I sneak out of my house, barefoot and unfeeling
And somehow I find a way to your home
But it's 2 am and the streetlights are giving out
And all I know is your dreams are haunting you
So I walk away for the first time in a while
And I allow myself to be lost

Six.
You meet me in the ever-busy hallways
And bump your ruddy backpack against mine
You give me a pack of sticky notes for my words
And I slide a handful of multicolored pens into your pockets
Our shoes skid on the too-shiny floors
And your laugh resonates in my ears

Five.
It is the day of your first kiss
We are lying on dried-up grass as the fireflies make constellations on our skin
You say he tasted of nightmares and a fallen heaven
I twist pale flowers into a crown for your head
And you sing a song for all the light he kissed away

Four.
You and I fight for the first time
Because you don't understand that there are things you cannot know
And I don't understand why you hold on to what hurts you
We shut doors and we build walls
I string Christmas lights through my fingers because yours used to belong there
And i hear that you haven't had sleep in days

I will be honest
I do not want to count down the last three
But this is our story
We have begun
And we will end

Three.
It is the second time I let you in where I can be safe
We sit in silence and stare at my glow-in-the-dark stars
You try to form words from the mess of who I am
I try to splatter my walls with a life I have long lost
I see your fears along the curve of your spine
You lazily trace maps onto my arms
And yet I can't find my way home

Two.
It's 2am again and I can't handle being alone
This time i do not hesitate to go to your house
I stare at the shadows behind your window
And i plead
Wake up, wake up, wake up
Just this once
Be restless with me
Stay until the silence of my sadness fades into sleep
Stay until we can be lost again

One.
It has been a week without your neon green sticky notes
It has been a month without any interaction
And it has been a full day since I realized
That our countdown didn't lead to something surprising or extraordinary
We ended in the only way we could have
In silence

The eternal clock
Starts ticking
Tick!
Tock!
Counting up?
Counting down?
Tick!
Arms swaying
Flailing
Tock!
It's own master
Cruel ruler
Tick!
Stern Dictator
Controlling motion
Tock!
Space
Universe
Tick!
Holder of the keys to
Life and Death
Tock!
Father Clock
Wise, old and fearsome
Tick!
Times up
The Circle of Death
Tock!

JM 4/1/17