criss-crossing branches
transect the sun
low in the sky
on another warm summer night
sometime in late July
the heat in the breeze
as the sun sets
feels nice regardless
wind chimes hum
in different tones
stepping back inside
you wonder
how many more times
you'd feel this

What do you see
In the eyes of that child
Was it worth it?
To waste those years
Are you satisfied
With what you made
Is that smile one of pride
In what you are
Or one of naivete
Unassuming of what
You’d be
The reflection through the glass
Of the picture frame
Shifts focus
The eyes of that person
Stare listlessly into yours.

February
Turns to April
Turns to August to December
The flowers bloomed
Long ago in March
Did you ever stop and feel
The sun on your skin
In May
Or did you only wish
It was September
To watch the leaves fall in November
Until it’s January
And another year's gone

When you died
I thought
I had to make myself
into a memory
So that when it was my turn
no one would forget me
It drove me
to insanity
Knowing I’d never amount
to anything
worth remembering
But I was only 17
incapable of understanding
accepting
what it meant
to be human