Chiaroscuro

- Betwixt: Phase I - Poem III -

This silence echoes like an old refrain,

My sweater hangs untouched, next to the softened rain

Two sizes small, like my heart,

We are just kids, but this still tears me apart

If I had wings, I don’t think I’d fly,

To answer the question of whether you took our photos down tonight

Or scroll through your videos of musical art,

To spot a naked finger with no promise of heart

The days wash away your messages of pollen on trucks,

I’m always driving, down on my luck 

Paper bags catch on trees like the envelopes I keep,

I’ve still got our first movie date receipt

You’re out there seeing life in a way brand new,

With a lens so clean, it cuts me in two

Your world’s gone wide and I’m still here,

Wondering if you miss my lips next to your ear

A new bridge has been built over Hubbard Bay,

I haven’t driven over it since early May

Will you find someone new to call home?

A different chiaroscuro to light your room, alone

This break, we called it a pause to grow,

What if we’re both not blooming, and what if I’m too slow?

Will our paths turn in different directions?

And never converge again, only at occasional intersections

If I had the means, I don’t think I’d wanna know,

If you're thinking of me, high or low

Or see you hanging with someone else,

To feed the thoughts that you’ve moved on from what we felt 

I see signs of you everywhere I go,

From the supermarket to the coffee shop, where we saw a car get towed

My tears blow in the wind like clovers of unwanted luck,

I’ll catch them with our first date cup 

Between the light and dark,

Don’t forget where we left our mark

Even if you find peace in the morning sun,

Don’t forget where we both once begun

I wonder if you’re out there being better and seeing clearer hues,

While I sit here and ache in midnight blues

If you glance back down through our forgotten summer glow,

You’ll find me waiting, your one and only chiaroscuro