Wither and Release

Dedicated to a friend of mine. It's impossible for us to go on.

The way we were plastered hard together,

it was all a ruse to keep us grounded

and drifting at the same time,

to keep us dreaming of how real our lives could be.

 

Without you and without me—this questioning person

standing in front of you—

we would have been nothing, young as we were,

but we would have grown up and become everything.

 

We still believe

that, with two of us flung together,

we can win the world

and mold it

so that we always see the stars.

 

You clutch this tapering illusion,

and while reality keeps its steady coil around me,

all I do is hazard that we can.

 

We lasted for decades,

and you believe, decades-strong, we’ll last for longer still.

 

The only thing with time is that,

on our visions and our lives,

it crumbles.

Author's Note

The title "Wither and Release" was taken from a line in my other poem, "Society Lost."