tulip girl,

you are as perfect

as anything could ever be

you are bright,

hopeful,

humble,

beautiful,

compassionate

you are everything

but tulip girl,

you are as broken

as the thousands of pieces

of a shattered mirror

your skin is not strong,

nor does it shimmer

like it used to

and your eyes

have lost their sparkle

i see that every line

in your face;

every sliver of evidence

that you’ve even once laughed,

has vanished

i see now only 

the cracks of time

and the memory 

that bleeds through them

i see the delicacy 

of tulip petals in you

my tulip girl,

you are a victim

of memory

you are a victim

of your own mind,

forced to stand helplessly

as it consumes you,

as lethal to breathe in 

as the roots

of deadly nightshade 

are to ingest

so you stop breathing

you stop and you float there,

wrapped in its steadily

tightening grip

and tulip girl,

i know you’ll be gone soon;

i know i’ll have to let go of you

but i promise 

that when we 

meet in the stars,

i’ll hold you once again

and will not let you go

a second time