in these moments
I am reminded
of what can’t be erased
the essence of you
engraved into my bones

all the words you said
rest in my throat
waiting to become breath
and these blank pages
ache for it

but how do I lay you down
on paper
and offer you to the world

how do I lay you down
without losing
what is ours

how do I write you
without unraveling
the way you live in me
into something
the world can hold

there is a version of you
time cannot take
it lingers
in the spaces I forget to guard

even now
you exist in fragments
and I am still learning
how to carry them

so
how do I give you away
in words and still keep
what’s left of you
for me