August

Whisper the word to the aching sky
Over the crimson waves,
Stilled by warm breezes...

August.

This is where it all began,
But where it all ended, too --

A dozen precious nights
With our faces to the stars...
A dozen precious days
With our hearts pulsing in tandem.

The sun-sparkled boys
Throw their tear-strewn hands to the air --
"Come back again!" they said,
But we'd never turn around this time.

The wind speaks of promises
Of what might lie ahead --
Only a few weeks from now,
And yet one more infinite path...

Faraway from a claim of invincibility --
No, the sun will die tonight --
We'll lie in wait, one a pier together,
Hand in hand,
As the rippled heavens
Burn away our mythology.

One last night
For laughter --
One last night
For tears --

Oh, look at you now...
That twinge
In the corner of your mouth --
But now is not the time to cry.

We could still run
Along the beachy shores of our youth --
Move our minds away
From the quotidian mess
Of the coming time
In the present.

August.

But I know,
That you know --

When the black flames of Midnight
Burn away to the cinders --
The feathers of a forgotten phoenix --

When the sable shrouds of adoration
Echo into the distant heat of a star --
The love of a thousand evenings --

What will come?

The first morn of September,
And the last red-skied night.