how long is eternity?
is it until the images fade
bleached by sun or slipping away
with the lingering cool of the autumn jade
is it until you can no longer recall my voice?
the weight of my head in your lap on the waves
the way that I shivered and curled up close
to a bundle of hazelnut hair and yesterday’s clothes
is it until the mountains we crossed would collapse beneath our steps
or the stars we dreamed of above cease to glow
until there’s no melodies left to be sung
or until the night falls, and we catch the bus home
is it until I tidy the pile
of clothes still gathered at the edge of the bed?
or until, when I trip over it, I no longer smile
as your face comes to mind in the light of your desk
is eternity the years which have passed us unheard
or the hurt of the yearning I ran from, deferred
into silence, I burn on the stakes of our words
is it the way that you’re frozen in time
and withering space, inside of my mind
the weight of expectation laid onto regret
and memories left unlived to remember
is it the love that I fearfully denied
the space it deserved in my life to survive
the length of the suffocating grief I devised
the thoughts and the sentiments in cycles revised
into a paralysing glow as I see you on the screen
and in my dreams of leaving my temporary home
is it the sum of all my earthly possessions
I’d give to return to your arms once more
to remember your laugh, to live in your thoughts
to see you beside me, to feel your skin against mine
to believe all we wrote with each other in mind
to have another photo, another plan, another broken verse
to let eternity last just one moment longer