IF YOU EVER FORGET, DON’T WORRY, I’VE KEPT IT
i remember us in the rose-glossed tones of youth, every
remnant of you still encased in an untouchable warmth
like a cherry sunset. do you remember the unyielding,
aurelian sun melting us into the wooden deck? the rich
teal of the saltwater spray rose up the sides of the ferry
as we crossed the strait of georgia & there was the
sticky sweetness of mango juice still heavy on our tongues
when we drove to victoria. & later, long after the sun fell
beneath the horizon, the heat weighed down the summer
night while we wandered the dark streets of chinatown.
then, in richmond, with the yolk-yellow & scarlet-red of the
night-market stalls where laughter echoed long into the
black velvet sky full of silver stars. here, in the backyard,
where i crowned you with a halo & replaced the gold stud
in your ear with a ruby. there, where we hid behind the old
lemon tree, rich with verdant leaves & ripe yellow fruit, to
read our fortunes when you called me your personal good
luck charm, some form of unlooked for blessing. at home,
on the counter, where we store our memories like change
in a glass jar. here, where we spent sleepless nights
& early mornings steeped in exhausted but content silence.
there’s not a place in this corner of the world that we left
untouched by the sepia-toned reminders for the future us.
sometimes, i’m so afraid of living in a place brimming with
memories so tangible i can feel them, gentle as a breeze.
they rewind & play like a film all day. this place will be so
full of ghosts if we ever leave it behind. every memory
of us in this house is still alight with sonorous arias in the
language of our mother-tongues & if it’s quiet enough,
you’ll hear it playing in the background like a radio. we grew
up together like braided money trees, our entire lives
entwined from the beginning. we don’t say it but we’re both
the light in the corner of each other’s eyes; whether it’s the
flickering candle by the window or the roaring wildfire.
i even hold the threadbare, inglorious fall of our youth
in cupped hands, close to my heart. do you remember how
far we fell? how we almost drowned in the black waters
near those crumbling cliffs? how much we had to tread
water & swim until we reached the cold, pale sands?
maybe you don’t. maybe i’ll be the only one who clutches
onto the secrets we shared on the beach beneath the
moon. but i’ll always remember the you captured in those
precious, fleeting moments beneath the neverending skies;
bright like a happy childhood, untouched by weathered passions.
