It came as a distant memory, or maybe a

dream, that you returned as a shadow

out of the darkness that swept you away. Standing

near your tides of torrential downpours, my hands

tried grasping for your waves, but I

felt the darkness seep

over my skin, contaminating at the touch,

razor-blade roses as your redemption

gift. You had nothing else to offer.

I remember us driving toward

vacant mountains, up a cliff edge, our destination the

embodiment of your promised land to us, but

you took your hands off the wheel, gave

our fate to the sky as sacrifice and let

us dive over the cliff into water. Submerged and

yearning for air, I pierced through the surface,

exhaling as you drowned beneath me. I always knew

there could only be one of us to survive.