AVA

I remember your face with eyes closed

The touch of your nose

The love you saw in all things gave them color

In summer we’d saddle up and roam the lands you called sacred

Purple flowers and sungazing

Linen naps in red gardens

I’d get lost in your eyes and freckled face

Like the sun, moon, and stars

Every color was your color

Strawberries on your sundress, Keds on your toes

The frayed sleaves you inherited on your mother’s sweater that’s gold

You paid homage to the river on nights you danced by the fire

You carried water for miles between your shoulders and smiled

You sang with the birds, with your knees in the grass

You whispered mantras over sunsets for blessings

And at night

You would speak of lights

Coming in from far

And how the wind knows

Silence in the rain

We were so alive swinging from vines

Cannonballs in the lake

Donna Summer on vinyl

Missing clothes when we finish

We dry off in the sun

Missing time cause our conversations could go on for days

Lost your earring that summer

It had feathers of gold

When I found it for you my shining armor was polished for weeks

BREEZER down the breezeway, blurry landscapes

Laughing as the trees sway

Cool air in a heatwave

You had the best seat, handlebar date-night on West Street

Something about late nights

All on our own while the rest sleep

Until the sky-walker came up, bright as the creases on your cheeks

Forgot your phone, wait, when we’re disconnected it’s the closest thing to me

Freefall in your autumn leaves

Cuddle up in your Pendleton

Remember when I missed you most you would come to me in dreams

From the first moment I saw you from across the universe I was drawn to aura

I raced through star clusters just to glow in your light

But one night something was different about the wind in your wings

The cherubs gathered closely and played strings

Your gown, an evening shade

Your eyes, a cloudy noon

The waterfalls were watercolors

Inside the polyphonic lullaby you whispered, sweet words

A thousand lights filled the sky and took your body in flight

You were the moon of my Earth, the day you came in my orbit

Told you I’d buy you a star, as soon as I could afford it

I chased your spaceship through traffic and quark stars

The day you flew from this planet, it rained for like three weeks

I couldn’t understand. . .

Your soul was too bright for one life

I see your face in my dreams, some nights

If a seed can grow in the sunlight

Our stars will cross again

I remember how you would speak of trains

Coming in from far

And how the wind blows

To wash away the rain.