Poem. Suzanne McWhorter. Elegy: Undefined.

ELEGY: UNDEFINED

Before the moon pulled a murmur from your skin.
Before your shadow painted my wall.
Before candles lit the hallway
and the world was lost to our naiveté.
Before dawn stole through the windshield
and over lips, freezing words on the tongue:
perpetually unsaid. Before threads
were pulled unsteady through phantom flesh
to seal the hollows of disgrace.
Before scars replaced photographs.
Before Sundays abandoned worship for pity.
Before your key was cut to be unturned.
Before one period ended a thousand questions.
Before the phone stopped singing
and the door fell voiceless. Before the bed
left its footprints in the carpet to gather someone
else’s dust. Before the bottle knew my name.
Before windmills beckoned your wanderlust
and claimed you for los desaparecidos.
Before the city limits sign
bowed in our mutual defeat.
Before the trees shed their masquerade,
baring skeletal fingers knotted with accusation.
Before we could find resolution,
at the crux of our story you left me with blank pages.