I sit in my chair, eyes drifting close,

Curtains drawing on the infinite stage.

I awake in our room, a vacant shell

Of the world before it all went to hell.

The sheets still smell like your orchid shampoo,

Your softer-than-moon sweater draped over

The chair, lifting up a strand of your hair

To the tides and the sky like an abandoned prayer.

A knock on the door, but it is not you,

So I ignore it and return to painting a portrait

Of the one and only person who ever cared,

Only to leave me behind with words unshared.

You call my name, and I stand, my tired eyes 

Searching for you, only to be met with a specter.

You hold your gift to me in your hand, one that I

Can’t accept, so I close my eyes and I try to lie,

But I can’t lie, not to you, so instead, we fall

Through the floor, through the ocean waves,

Pinkies intertwined as I jolt awake. 

He crosses

His arms, sister by his side, and as he faintly smiles

I remind myself that it’s all for them, even

If it means I’ll only ever see you in my dreams.