19 Heart Beats

You'd lived through your autumn before 

I met you. 

Your feet rustling faded leaves; 

your hand gracing ancient barks; 

your eyes learning the name of clouds I 

never got to learn. 

You left before my own season changed; you 

entered your winter just 

as I met you. 

And there you stand, with

your skin glistening under the crest of

hailfallen skies;

your hair, hoar with ice, as silky as a spider's web;

and you, oh my goodness you-

your glow under the icy lights; you, 

melting the snow, moving

towards the spring.

But still, still, I am

far behind you.

I began in autumn after 

I met you.

Colored in orange hues, I

see the leaves fall behind me, falling in my shadow; I

breathe in, the air dampening my lungs; I

watch you, I watch your dimmed light, distant.

And as I began,

I missed a you I never knew.