ｉｋｉｇａｉ

１２ | ｔｈｅｒｅ ｗａｓ ａ ｔｉｍｅ

There was a time where everything fit.

Where everything was foolproof.

There was a time we were lovers.

Do you remember?

You said my hair matched your tartan drapes

and my nails were shiny gold

kernels of dry skin and blue patchwork.

You said I looked pretty, all

strung-out on that poisoned shaved

ice they call 'coke' nowadays.

You said my smile was the only source of

light that you needed to see through

those misty mornings where we laid in bed and watched the snow fall like little frosted flakes in your backyard.

You said I was perfect, polished

like the smooth edge of a honey jar.

You said many things.

And strangely, you never said 'I love you.'

You see, I was a cork-board of maudlin

mesh-work and

you would stick pins and needles in me, just to

see if I could bleed.

I rooted my heartstrings into the beating

dirt that camouflaged your

old-timey soul.

And Mother Earth smiled and

strummed my guitar as

she serenaded Mr. Sun.

Because hearts are like flowers, they wilt and they die,

only to be watered and reborn anew.

But you did not smile.

You carved out my wires and chiseled

your initials onto my ribs instead.

You thought of me as

soapy hands and that the drains

were love-struck and they

would weep out your name instead

of over-salted tears.

You thought of me as anything less than a Romeo.

And you were not Juliet for me.

You were Tybalt.

I thought the world of you

but you were already light-years away.

I was the stars in the Earth's night sky and

you were Neptune, ready to combust into a million

particles of blue hues.

I thought I loved you.

But, there was a time where everything fit.

Where everything was foolproof.

And there was a time where I thought we were lovers.

Do you remember?

Even time can crack the earth beneath our feet.

It can threaten to take a sip of us as we meaninglessly

fall into a gorge of what they call 'growing up'.

And I am thankful.

Because growing up means not making

the same mistake of falling for people like you.