Forever Meant Nothing To You

By

It’s summer now.
I keep picking sunflowers
hoping I’ll hear your leather shoes
come running.

I drop handfuls of petals
leaving a trail for you just in case
you hear the echo of my voice.

The wind keeps tossing them away
burying them into the earth
just like how you
put our names on tombstones
carved permanently in granite.

I used to plant gardens
on our grave
and watered it with your leftover tears
but they shriveled into dust and
dried out promises.
Just like us.

I keep dreaming up a scene
where I finally dig us up
and bring our bones back to life.
But my shoulders already ache
with our burning past.
And so I turn my back.

Shielding us from the sunlight
and from the sea breeze
that feels like your lips on me.
I’ll let us rot on the earth.

But it’s ok now.
I like that we are in there together.
At least now I know you meant it
when you said you’d be with me forever.