A Saltwoven

Hold me tonight, though the air feels thin, though the warmth of your hands never touches my skin. Wrap me in whispers, a breath, a trace, let me pretend there’s still life in this space. The stars look on, lifeless, hollow and still, as though they’ve watched me bend to your will. And the moon, half-lost, won’t speak your name as it has learned, like me, the rules of this game.  Lie if you must, as my ears crave your sound, say you’ll be back when the world comes around. Say this fracture was meant to mend, that all broken paths will find their end. I’ll wait in the ruins where our love once burned, where the laughter faded and shadows turned. I’ll wait where the sky collapses into blue, where time forgets, but I’ll always remember you.  I’ve been cold, since the day you went black, since the clock froze hands, it can’t take back. I don’t know who I’ve become tonight, a man of stone, or a ghost in flight. But even if the dawn refuses to rise, and even if s...