We lived for the silence at sunset, varied
layers of love covering us with companionship.

Your profile against the golden circle and the
smile that pierced the encroaching darkness
still reach out and twist my insides
after all these seasons, after all these storms.

Why are you not here?

Did I not wash your eyes with my love?
Did I not speak your words as if they were mine?
Did I not capture your beauty in my tears?

The thirst of absence remains, the hunger
of distance grows.

Memory climbs the castle steps,
we rode yellow through virgin snow.

You kissed me by the window
and frowned at my frigidity. So
I placed my smile in your palm and
asked you to apply it to your lips.

Remember?

We lived for the silence at sunset, watching
the encroaching darkness swallow our shadows.