Slight rays of day begin their hesitant
descent through the hazy blue sky.
a memory lingers in its wake,
desperate to play on, yet fading.

Faced with reality—once the sun’s
rays cover my eyes and the day,
bright and unyielding,
gives way—
there are no fingertips on my skin,
no whispered smiles or shouted secrets.

No words
for something that may have never
existed, in a made-up land,
where the stars dance and the
moon offers dreamers a
make-believe escape…

The memory has wilted now,
living in the corners of my eyes.
Only as sleep begins, can I see it
in pieces of words-
syllables,
nouns,
consonants,
vowels,
the beloved…
adjective.