Nights

A graphite-stained sky (minus the moon)

Watches my copper-stained fingers

Pinching the near immolated corpse of

A bay leaf with an inscription to leave the past alone

Used seconds later to set a joint alight

An inhale forcing my mind into a daze

No coughing escapes though

Both her and I expect that by now

A graphite-stained sky (moon a sliver to the right)

Watches as I sit in the ill-fitted back doorway

Not knowing that I look up at her

The way she looks down upon me

In our shared silence

There’s an understanding between us

It’s gone as we both get distracted

By a bat flying through the yard

A graphite-stained sky (moon a quarter full)

Watches as two twin flames burn down

Cord looped around candle sticks

Burning and severing

I also watch the burn

Ignoring that the candle representing me

Holds on to the cord for as long as the flame will allow

While the one representing [redacted] let go first

A graphite-stained sky (moon almost full)

Watches my still copper-stained fingers

In their continued green-blue glory

Painted scenery drying taped to my desk

Eyes glance up

At clouds that surround her

For a second a wish that I could paint them both

Blinks through my head

A graphite-stained sky (moon finally full)

Watches people ask her to recharge their crystals

To bring them power that some never return

She’s grateful to the ones that do

We’re both glad they never ask the same the rest of the month

I end up analyzing the almost-forest that surrounds me

Attaching to memory the past sea deep greens that could only be viewed

Due to her light being brighter than the one on the sidewalk