a stain of sweetness
on the lip of night
a little red ache
the evening cannot swallow

seeds of small longing
pressed between tongue
and memory
where your name still lingers
like summer beneath the skin

somewhere
a bramble keeps
its quiet red promise
thorn and blossom
sweetness guarded
against the passing years

I remember
the warmth of your hands
the unhurried hush of afternoons
the way the world grew softer
when you were near

how love can live 
in the smallest things 
a lingering touch 
a kiss that stays hidden
between your lips
the sweetness of a moment 
we wish could last forever

outside the stars begin
their patient unfolding
and darkness settles softly
over the sleeping lodge

I close my eyes
and feel you there
in the tender spaces
between longing and sleep
where even silence
has the shape of you

and I fall asleep
holding what remains
your sweetness on my lips
your love beneath my skin
still tasting summer
in the dark