Halcyon

the anatomy of red

Our sky turned crimson,
beneath twilight's afterglow
after our very first meet.
the air tasted of fever and dawn,
my veins sang with a searing crimson rush.
we were the ignition
of something sacred and new,
falling fast through reckless gravity,
hearts outrunning reason,
laughing midair before the ground
remembered its duty.
a speeding jaguar at midnight,
red lights trailing like comets.
my lipstick smudged your cup's rim;
our crimson was hot enough to rival the sun.

our sky turned scarlet,
in the dimming ochres of a setting sun.we danced barefoot
on a stranger's rooftop,
sirens blurring below.a moment stolen
behind a half-closed curtain
your friend's wedding,
our laughter a secret flame.
the cigarette embers from your trembling hand
sketched constellations in our scarlet sky.
impulsive heat, ice-hot temptation—
we were scarlet:
the colour of danger and defiance,
a heart unbuttoned to flame.

our sky turned ruby,
just before the moonlight
claimed the onyx night.
our fingers traced veins like cartographers—
mapping the treasure we thought eternal.
we were the gem that gleamed in the dark,
moonlight caught in wineglasses,
trembling between confession and touch.
the world shrank
to the measure of our heartbeats,
our voices ringing in unabashed ruby
polished, devoted, utterly smitten.
your ruby-tongued words,
our love a cut jewel.

our sky turned rose,
after a gentle sunrise—
light spilling through gauze curtains
onto tangled sheets.
shared toast and quiet laughter,
your jacket draped across my shoulders,
smelling of rose-warm comfort.
rose mornings, rosewater promises,
petal-thin affection threading my nights.
your roses were drying in the vase;
i had forgotten to water them,
fearing the thorns—
but you were there, tender and bright,
and i couldn't fathom the wilt.

our sky turned burgundy,
just before the storm.
mature love shading to melancholy,
the mellow ache of half-light.
two glasses of red wine
stood untouched on the table.
my eyes no longer met yours;
you drew the curtains in silence.
rain bled down the window
like burning wine down a throat.
in burgundy evenings,
you looked full of words
you'd already swallowed.

our sky turned maroon,
after the torrential afternoon rain.
the sheets were cold
where our world once began.
your phone lit with my name,
but your eyes did not.i folded your shirts,
hoping to smell that ambrosial scarlet—
but all i found was maroon,
the residue of love,
the colour of aftermath.
we were marooned in silence,
adrift in memory.

our sky turned rusty,
the afterglow without promise.
memories oxidised into unwanted rust.
we should've painted ourselves red before
the rust claimed us both.
you drove past our favourite place
without turning your head.
i kept the key to our beach house
but no longer the need to enter.
rust sunlight climbed
the spine of my poetry book,
the anatomy of red, brutally true.
rusted vows,
and rust in the heart's machinery
our once-bright flame corroded.

and now, our sky is merlot,
holding our wine-stained dreams.
a wine-red moon clings
to what forever could have been.
i still want you—
a bittersweet intoxication.
i know you want me too,
when the world narrows
to carmine silence.
you miss our vermilion skies,
and I miss dancing on embers.
we are both drunk on what we were—
once upon a time,
before the downpour
washed us both away.

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