Definitions

we are
silhouettes:
shadows frozen
in time;
dusk fades onto pavement
as faceless reverie,
cutout
copies
stamped onto brick walls,
smiles covered by smoke,
voiceless
“it looks like we’re holding hands”

we are
secrets:
truths soaked by bleeding tongues;
songs say it best
when I cannot speak
because words like
i and love and you
make me shudder
at 10 a.m.,
when i miss you
on purpose

we are
pictures:
memories framed
behind foggy glass,
faces stained by reaching daylight;
darkness keeps us safe
in the corners of my mind,
behind creeping thoughts
of wanting to kiss you,
right on the dusty shelf
where you put me
i sit
and wait

we are
teenagers:
blaming lazy hearts
on our youth
and not enough time;
we lost patience
when we were seventeen—
she was not enough

and we are
strangers:
now, with our separate moons,
wandering like ghosts
in the middle of the night
someday we’ll meet again
in a haunted classroom,
when we are seventeen again
and our shadows look like they are holding hands
i can picture it
and that’s enough
enough for now