from a place i'd never known 
you painted yesterday 
with ink stained eyes 
poison stained memory
colors that tasted like sulfur 
acidic ash outlines

my heart wept inconsolable 
in outrage

from the shelf i claimed
i watched with held heartbeats 
scales of butterfly wings
my comfortable dust
broken by your hues
wishing i could restore your torn canvas

my soul ached savagely
at the injustice

yet you in your tender life
kept moving forward
on dainty fairy feet
across glitter strewn moss carpets
barefooted one day
bloody combat boots the next

my love grew infinitely 
at your resolve

as your journey continued 
i stood witness to transformation
words rioting in fantastical shades
bending light and manipulating dark
a gauntlet of emotions and visions
commanding your pallet to your art

you were exquisite
when you loved yourself 

.
.
.
cherish yourself... always
as i tried to from that shelf
see yourself... as our hearts did
while you fly among the clouds


i will always be dust
you will always be poetry
we will hold you like starshine
you will always be loved