Familiar

By Tarot Esparza

Do you listen to the wind too,

Praying that the howls of the wind will make the sound of my voice, 

And you’ll be able to hear my laughter once more?

I stand on this meadow, the warmth of the sun shining onto my skin. 

In the distance, I see your figure, but as I run towards it, 

The sun sets.

I pause for a moment;

I listen.

My skin remains cold under the moon’s fury.

The wind howls in replacement of your words,

Pronouncing cold within the marrow of my bones. 

For a second, I hear you;

A snippet of your voice.

I turn to my side, reaching my hand out to greet you.

But you are no longer there.

I peer into the darkened river at times.

The dim moonlight illuminates my features,

Features foreign to my skin.

So pained am I in your absence,

That I no longer recognize my own reflection.

My dear friend,

What has your death done to my face?

***

I sit on the grass sometimes, in the cold of night. 

I feel the cold splitting into my bones, 

I long for the warmth of the sun.

Perhaps if I wait here, 

If I suffer through this frigid presence, 

You will come back with the sun’s rise, 

And it will have all been but a dream.

The Meadow and the Tree

By Jazmin Villa

I can still remember the night you left, 

feeling a cold breeze wash over me reminding me of your absence. 

We used to walk along a meadow and speak for hours a day.

Now I walk in silence following your fading footsteps.

The sun no longer brings warmth,

The trees await to see you pass by but only see me shivering and alone. 

Everyday, for a year, I walked along the meadow alone, hoping like the trees to see you pass by. 

I still think of you from time to time,

Holding you in a different memory.

A memory where only your laughter can be heard and not your hurt.

Occasionally, I remember where it all went wrong.

How foolish of me to think you would listen to me.

How foolish to think for once you would finally admit you were wrong.

But your pride was in the way,

That damn pride. 

You probably think the same thing about me;

Or at least I hope you still think of me.

Maybe your pride is blinding you to the point where you cannot remember my face. 

I’m slowly forgetting yours,

Forgetting the way you smiled, 

The way you talked, 

The way you thought. 

Everything about you is no longer staying in my mind, maybe a sign I should leave you to rest. 

But I can’t help and reminisce about our times together.

I would trade all of my tomorrows just for one yesterday with you.

A yesterday where I still loved you.

Till now I realized I loved you.

I never said those words to your face but, I just hope you never stayed up late wondering if I did, because I do the same to you. 

I stay up late at night thinking if our friendship ever meant something to you.

Looking back, I wonder where our friendship went wrong but it seems we were doomed from the beginning.

The beautiful meadow we once walked by is now dying, 

its long green grass now turns brown.

The tree that awaited our passing, that once stood strong now stands limp with very little life to it.

Nothing is the same but your arrival wouldn’t return it how it was, 

It would simply all be the same.