Halcyon.

Nobody talks about the calm after the storm. 

That moment shadowed 

by impending doom

Right after the roaring of the masses has subsided 

and the fireworks have turned to smoke and disappeared with the clouds

The leftover dust and leftover meals, frozen 

in time in a moment that’s to be cherished forever 

but lived for merely a fragment of a second

The matters of which the heart has spoken on and won arguments against the brain to. 

The words pronounced incorrectly that once said cannot be taken back or unheard. 

The inevitable accident of red wine spilled on white sheets by 

inebriated lovers tangled under the covers. 

The undeniable rush of blood to the head that kicks in 

before a masterpiece is brought to life. 

The uncomfortable knot in your throat when holding back a cough, or tears, 

or confessing your fears at the pews knowing well you’ve sinned 

yet not asking for forgiveness but rather a set of ears to 

hear about your hedonistic misdemeanors. 

The seconds after a song has finished when you are left empty handed but so 

full of something that resembles love, not dissimilar to the inches between 

the mouths of two parting lovers, about to inhale a piece of the other 

for the sake of closing the distance and eclipsing all doubts in sight.  

The place where the tip of the tongue reaches the lobe of the ear, 

in a caress so delectably intimate that the darkness would be jealous of the 

stillness of time during that point of contact. 

The collision of two souls, worlds apart; 

stubborn enough to dream of finding true eternity

and brave enough to leap into the fire surrounding them as 

the sirens get louder yet go unnoticed and taken as an invitation 

to dance along to the melody—the only concern being remaining in each other’s presence. 

The morning after, the days in between, the birth of a child, the last seconds before the sun sets over the mountains, the moment you stop fighting sleep and surrender to its gentle tug at your haggard body, the effortless way in which his soul and mine fell into synchronized step, intertwined never to be torn apart.