He tells me about the lady bug.
Says that’s the only thing he remembers,
But I think he remembers the tears too
And the pain.
But these things are too hard for him to describe,
So he just goes on
About the elegant nature of the lady
In her red satin gown
Dotted with black pearls.
She waved a farewell to him
With her languid arms
And disappeared into the night sky.
It’s funny how omens are beautiful
Before we know what comes next
And they stick around in our minds long after
Everything else has gone.
He smiles when he tells me about her
But it’s bittersweet
And laced with regret.
He doesn’t look at me;
Instead, stares off into space
No doubt seeing her.
“I remember you,”
He tells the majestic lady.
“You were everywhere that day.
I saw your dress trailing the leaves
In the sun, you were on fire.
You were so beautiful.
Everything else was wrong.
But you were still so beautiful.”
I assume she simply waves at him and flies away
Like she did then.
Because she is only a memory.
I wonder if he will ever see her again
In that beautiful light of before
Or if she has become a house
For the aching in his chest
And the hollowness in his bones.
