9. Tonight
Tonight she will rest
Her hand lain on his chest
Interlinked stares, going nowhere
And it will, irrevocably, unavoidably
Be the case
This memory, not yet a memory
This moment, not quite a moment
Which only finds itself existing through the night
Will be theirs
And they'll be each other's for good
Tonight he'll look into her, lovingly
Unassumingly– but
Tonight she will fall in love again
And he'll say the dreaded words
Holding his throat– clenched
'I love you' past muttered whispers
Eyes moving like whiskers
Tonight she will not say a word
But fall for someone again
And there's nothing to do about it
She just will. . .
And in the morning, he leaves
She'll miss him like flowers miss the Moon
But there's nothing to do
For this moment is not yet– a moment
A what-if hanging from the tree past her window
Tonight he'll sit in her palm
Thinking there's no end to this beginning
Tonight he'll say the wicked words
He'd awaited lifetimes to think
