He Would Remember

She was going to have the word remember tattooed on the back of her neck so he would see it and remember her name remember she was there waiting with the time ticking away she knew he wasn’t alone for he never could be so she wanted him to remember her eyes and mouth and how the words I love you sounded as they came from her mouth right at the moment he opened the door so then he couldn’t forget she had a heart that she was alive

She wasn’t a possession he could shove in the closet and pull out on special occasion she wanted the tattoo to burn brightly so he could remember the curve of her hips the sound of her feet against the floor in the early morning as she jumped out bed to get him coffee as her smile trailed along his chest as he remember the exact moment he loved her and the words weren’t a routine that she missed while waiting for him to walk through the door

And one day he would be greeted by silence then maybe he would remember her reflection and her laughter and I love you repeated back her scent lingered and her face burned upon his gaze until he swore the shadows had become her that her ghost was still there and he would remember that love was a sacred emotion not words you recited on the way out the door to meet another and maybe he would remember a time when shadows weren’t the only voices in the room and goodbye a lullaby of footsteps