could i kiss you and make you a king?

twenty years float along and we've aged
crow's feet sleeping at the corners of your eyes
laugh lines making parentheses around your lips

counting the days backwards
does not encourage me to remember anymore
because this photographic memory has run out of film

black tires creating a blur
rolling down the fast lane; racing the yellow dotted lines
never envisioning the future, only wind in our hair

it was toxic air we breathed
creating miracles
blending sorrow and hope in a tangled web
driving ambition right over that rocky edge and through the clouds
stirring hot tears with stolen kisses and guarded hearts
god, it's so hard to breathe

it's twenty years later
the creaking rocking chair whispers to the children
a secret that can never be shared, but..

calloused fingers graze freckled cheeks
and suddenly she's telling it all
salty winds carry her heavy and simple words

a new roll of film exposed to the fiery sun
faces blurred
dark shapes
fingers trace outlines
trying to remember

and her words creak along with the wicker chair on the front porch.

this toxic air we breathe; struggling to rewind
violins in the distance, perhaps a broken symphony
blind lyrics feel around in the dark,
but no one forgets the whispered secret.

just as i have not forgotten you.