[▶] for safekeeping.

if I had one day

Inspiration:

-

● poem ○

If I had one day left with you

I wouldn't hold back on saying everything I wanted to

I'd slip my hand into yours, fingers interlocking like tailor-made puzzle pieces

and I'd let a smile blossom onto my lips and let words spill from them like a bottle of fountain ink -

flowing, spilling over onto a page.

If I had one day left with you

I would make sure to clutch each memory with my fingers, grabbing them tight despite the fact that they might be shards of glass

breaking lines in my skin, inking permanent marks with vibrant rivulets of red

every moment crystalline, yet just as effervescent as morning mist that vanishes with a breath of air,

yet also condenses on your skin when you wave your hand through it.

And your eyes are the most brilliant quartz of them all,

because they reflect not just the light that scatters off of the stained glass of the altar windows

but also the myriad of tales and technicolour of the many polaroids we've taken together, strung up on our wall.

If I had one day left with you

I would tug your sleeve, and let the weight of us fall onto the welcoming cushioning of the sofa,

just to be able to pull you closer, letting our souls meld together as I thread my fingers through the silken waves of your hair

and nestle into the enveloping, glowing warmth of your secure embrace - timeless.

How often does one love?

Maybe a million times in an infinite web of lifetimes woven through the stars and the cosmos

but if I was allowed, and if the blessings of Eros so granted -

I would have my heart struck over and over, by the golden arrow bonding the two of us together with the fated ribbon of unbreakable passion

even after every clock, every instrument of time,

had its metallic arms rusted, its heavy toll bell stiffened, its wind-up clockwork sprung loose, or its uncountable grains of sand leaked and drained dry from its core.

If I had one day left with you

I wouldn't waste time being afraid, restrained by the imaginary boundaries constructed by my own heart

I'd wrap my fingers round your collar, latching onto the fabric and pulling you towards me

and firmly press my lips to those rose-petal ones of yours without much thought.

Every sentence is a risky one, fraught with the statements of fragility and glass

just like the string of words I'd like to spin

to gift to you, to let you breathe and inhale, to spiral down into your lungs

like particulate stars resting on your skin, lightly glittering, kissing the surface.

Why do the best, yet the most torturous of scenario after scenario

so often greet the dark draped over my vision whenever my eyelids lay to rest?

Legs entangled round yours, silver embedded band glinting on our fourth fingers

nothing more than a fabricated reality dreamt up by the darkest recesses of my mind, just so I could cope with the truth that

you were no longer there?

If I had one day

who would give a damn about the entrapments of the world, about the binding views of those who thought they were showing you they loved you but really weren't?

I'd grab your hand, pull us both towards the nearest boat docked in the harbour

unravel the rope and kickstart the engine,

coffee-coloured suitcase at our feet, stuffed to the brim with things made of dreams

We'd sail far enough out to sea, headed to where we'd always wanted to visit, to just be -

then disappear below deck, only to reappear in front of one another

blooming folds of cream and lace tracing my arms and hugging my figure

either a fitted suit tailored to your every measurement, or a matching blossom of swivelling, deliciously melting layers of fabric on you

and eyes would meet, held in a tender gaze,

coffee-coloured suitcase this time laying open, and far more empty,

below-deck.

We'd leave it to the wind to whisper the words of "dearly beloved, we have gathered here today -"

but the beloved we'd have would only lie in the form of the person we'd see standing opposite one another

hands entwined, singing our vows and letting them reverberate for all eternity over the azure, never-ending horizon of the rippling ocean

then an exchange of promises slipping onto fingers, sealed with a priceless, diamond-tinted kiss of immeasurable valuability.

For what could be more pure than the will to love and the precious quality of it

hidden deep down below, finally being brought to light and shared by two souls bonded in eternal respect and heart?

- fin -

A/N: Ah, I remember writing this snuggled up in my bed at 2am in the morning - why did I never post it? It says 'last updated 8 September 2017'. Maybe I just thought it wasn't enough back then, but today I read through it again and figured it was finally high time I did post it.
Hope you all enjoyed this! Sorry for not being around the past couple of months, I've got tons of drafts I started in my library but never really finished, and they eventually kind of drifted off and I ended up being unsure of what to do with them.
Sending lots of love tonight - remember that you are loved, and that there will always be people who love you.

Bella.