notdeermag
All That We've Lost, Melody Wang
CW: loss, death, suicide
Late afternoon and the world slept on,
cocooned in shale-green coolness.
A tremulous breath preceded your last
fire-walk on this side of existence
In the courtyard, the putrid air sweetened. Unforgiving
smoke morphed into an endless maze, choked
your fellow students in their frenzied diaspora —
a gasp of starved koi, mouths agape in horror
As if in the eye of the hurricane, you threw
a final scornful smile to the ones left behind,
then fixated your eyes on the world to come,
knowing you did not belong to either
Decades later, I would walk through the eucalyptus
grove to find your plaque, our shared birthday
a glaring reminder that although you were born long
before me, I’m now older than you will ever be
We are the foolhardy children of April
clinging to a forgotten dream, faces upturned
to deeply inhale the scent of the coming storm,
our flushed bodies eager to be baptized again
At times, I sense you returning to this place
when the night air is cool and sweet, your chilled breath
upon my shoulder as we pace this sylvan purgatory
hand in hand to seek all that we've lost
Melody Wang currently resides in sunny Southern California with her dear husband. In her free time, she dabbles in piano composition and also enjoys hiking, baking, and playing with her dogs. She is a reader for Sledgehammer Lit and can be found on Twitter @MelodyOfMusings.