memories in a poem for when we don’t remember anymore
1:32 AM
you stretched in your sleep
and rested your head on my shoulder—
like the way a tired moon settles
on the edge of the horizon
just before dawn remembers it needs to rise
some time last week
your laughter bubbled out
of you
like a pot boiling over
to make the sweetest kind of mess
at annie’s funeral
i held your hand so tight
you could feel my heartbeat waver
and you whispered that grief
is just love reborn
first date
you tapped your finger on the table
every time i asked about yourself
and when i asked about it
you looked at your hand
and your cheeks went pink
last sunday
we argued the whole day
but i woke up with
your apology warm against my spine
and forgiveness learning my shape
marie’s birthday
we spent in hour in the store
choosing a bow
for a gift that cost ten minutes
but somehow
the bow meant more
econ class
your water bottle fell in the silent room
and you let out a laugh
big enough to swallow all fear
the library on monday after we failed our final
we laughed so hard we almost got kicked out
somehow, that failure felt
like the greatest victory
10:05 am
the sun glided her finger
down your nose
and paused to admire
the morning caught in your eyes–
i understood then why people
believe in gentle gods
the man in the grocery store
he dropped his Chessmen Butter Cookies
and you remembered i said i liked them,
begged to make them at home
i smiled
when you walked away
he whispered to me
that people like you
are rare constellations
that sailors navigate by
to the mirror
you watch as lines plump to curves
and back to lines
and you let yourself soften
like warm dough rising
then settle again
like breath after laughter
to me
you said my pen
would never sleep
but you didn’t know
you woke it up
now on the beach
you wrote our initials in the sand
then laughed when the waves took them
and i wondered how many versions of us
the tide has already carried away
you said, “it’s okay–things don’t disappear
if we remember them”
and in case one day
we don’t
i wrote all this down
so these moments survive us
