Poetica

Clinquant

Clinquant (adjective)

Glittering with gold and silver.

-

"Where are we up to?" I asked, confused.

"Rooftop," He said, smiling. He tightened his grip on my hand as we enter the lift. It's New Year's Eve but he stole me from my family saying we have some important matters to do. Until midnight, I guess. I looked at my wristwatch. It's already 11:10. Then suddenly, the minutes of my clock turned 11.

It's 11:11PM.

I looked at him. In exactly 49 minutes, another year will dawn for the both of us. Not just between us two, but to every one of us in this world. I equaled his intensity. I tightened my grip on his hand, delivering some sort of message that I will hold onto him 'til every ending and every beginning of my life.

We count years. We celebrate when the year ends and when another year starts, we celebrate when it's our birthday and we gained another year of existence, we celebrate when a relationship reached a certain year or decade, we celebrate every holiday by means of numbers. But I think numbers aren't just the basis of everything. It's the intimacy; it's the extremity of your feelings towards each other.

As we reached the rooftop, the cold wind cascaded. I shivered but I was taken a back of his pull. His palms aren't cold. They gave heat to my skin instead. We leaned on the balister as the series of fireworks showed up in the dark sky.

I was the sky back then. Dark. Dull. Lonely. You can see the stars, but most of the time you can't because I was surrounded by clouds. Imagine how I became so beautiful when these fireworks came. Imagine how I was so significant for these sparks and lights. Significant, because they will not shine without me. Without the endless darkness, these lights will not be seen. I, on the other hand, will not have the opportunity to shine without these fireworks. It's a give and take relationship. We are both benefiting.

He was the one shining like fireworks over my sad, empty realm. His eyes shone while watching the different cascading lights in the sky. His eyes are clinquant, and it made me more alive.