Fleeting

Teya, Grade 12

She talks with a smile,
Her words are quick and warm.
I fail at listen to what she’s saying,
Paying too much attention to her voice.
The intonation of her words,
The curve of her lips,
A flash of teeth.

Something is there,
Or could be.

She sits next to me.
Leans against my leg.
Her hair curls down her back
like a vine searching for something to wrap around.
I offer my finger.
To lose part of myself to her nature
Would be a gift worthy of gods.

I fall in love again and again.
In this moment and in that.

But, the moments end.
Voices drift away.
Fingers remain unscathed.
I can still see her
Delicate figure,
Too far to touch.

Time stretches forwards.
Everything beautiful must come to an end
Flowers wilt, the sun rises too fast, sets too quickly.
Fires die, lakes boil, trees burn.
I wish I could go back.
I would have held on stronger, talked for longer,
If I knew how fleeting our moments would be.