unlit matches

we will fade

you have the softness
of a silk painting
and when i breathe you in
i can smell honey and jasmine.

your scent is stained
on my brain

and it fills me
with both longing
and pain.

when you're not here,
i make tea
and remember

you flipping your cup over
trying to read the leaves.

you make summer
feel like autumn
for all the colours fade,

it's just you
in a vibrant haze

and me staring,
my mouth agape.

it's utterly cruel
that one day
we will
both be buried

and our photos
will disintegrate
with age

and no one
will know
how you absorb colours

and swore you would
tell the future one day.

no, these things
will not make the
history books.

but flowers decay
in a matter of days

and the world
seems a little grey,

so I'll take the drops
of sunshine you leave

and plead that your
jasmine honey scent
plagues my nostrils
once again

before the memories
dissipate.