Pictures symbolize several subjects-
Love painstakingly, perfectly photographed,
Emotions lost in light,
Almost sickly saccharine in their ability to slough sincerity,
Seemingly poised, precisely timed,
Even when we were truly walking on air.

Few truly recognize that love
Organically stems from care,
Rarely does one never have to try.
Grateful is he who goes with those he loves beside him.
I felt too much, felt too hurt because my efforts to try were in
Vain, you didn’t truly want to get better. I couldn’t help,
Even when I wanted to scream my love off of rooftops.

My mistake, I should have known that when
Emotion runs too deep, pulling away is the last thing to do.

I can’t believe I walked away,
Let myself be so selfish as to withdraw,
Let myself leave you there and let others help.

And still I wonder why I did not let myself continue to hold you close,
Leaving you wondering what happened,
Wondering why did I constantly withdraw, further
And further from you
Yet now you’re in a hospital, a care center, a hospital again
Still after five months.

Look at that photograph
Of you on that wall, arm around my grandmother.
Vibrant, full of life, look at how happy you were!
Even though I had to ask her who you were.

You’re in a photograph on the wall. You’re happy then.
Oh, but you don’t seem so now. Did I do this? Is it me that
Usurped that jubilancy? I shouldn’t have let myself let you go.

Please forgive me, I’ll always love you.

to look at a photograph
of a place
you once knew,
to know you walked there.

You try to recall what it must have looked like,
back then,
try to imagine the caress of the wind, or
what you know it must have smelled like, or
how the ground shifted
beneath your feet.

But you can't.

Memory is funny that way.
We remember without remembering.
These photographs are nothing but
broken portals to the past
leaving only chasms of static
where life should have been.

I burned our
old photographs,
it fell down
like dried leaves
in the autumn
The classic
gallery of our
love that was
once fascinating
became a
tedious one
The once white
walls and
clean corners
Are now dusty
and dark
The perfectly
carved frames,
and perfect
shots
became dull
and lifeless
You left me
knowing that
I won't survive
alone inside this
***** walls
Picture me
in your mind
And you'll see
the saddest photo
there will ever be

Washed up on the shore
of the oceans, your waters inside
I left an armada of paper boats
folded from all the letters I wrote to you
In my mind, in my mind
For you to never find
For my pride to unwind
For love to be kind

I flew across a mountain high
The edges of your mind
And shed the feathers from my sacrificial bird
in hopes you'd make a pillow to rest your head
On my thigh, on my thigh
For you to be nigh
For my lips to gift you a relieved sigh
For love to get by

I sat underneath the tallest tree
the growth of me and you
and tried to capture the play of light and shadow on photographs
in an attempt to keep all memories safe for your return
To my side, to my side
For you to let your insecurities hide
For my arms to be open wide
For love to abide