Cole Archer123

I reside in a foreign land, 
An unfamiliar place 
Where I left all familiarity behind. 

I keep running, 
But my past moves faster 
Than I ever could. 

I don’t want
the hair tie on my wrist 
it’s just a reminder
of how easy I was to keep.

I don’t want the flowers.
They died
doing exactly what I did:
staying too long.

We didn’t break, 
we thinned out 
into quieter sentences. 

You can walk as far as the map will go. 
You can swim all oceans, seas, and lakes. 
You can drive every winding road, 
Bike each cracked and uneven sidewalk. 

She says, I’m scared, 
and I don’t lie, 
I am too. 

Scared in the quiet, 
scared of how much 
this matters. 

Except for one moment: 
when I’m beside her. 

I almost said forever,
the way people do
when they want the moment to stop moving.

But I know I’m temporary
in ways you aren’t.

And loving you
has been the happiest
I’ve ever felt.