I Told The Sunset…
By Osuolale Oluwatomilayo
I told the sunset about you,
He leaned close, curious,
“What is her name?” he asked,
I only said, “I’ve told the moon.”
The sunset flared, burning with want,
He needed to know,
Who holds my heart in tender hands?
So I breathed your name,
He guessed, “April?”
I shook my head, silent,
A vow spilled from my lips,
On the eighth night of each month,
A letter would fall like a secret,
If love still lived in your eyes,
The sunset would know.
The moon chuckled softly,
She held the truth I did not,
How well I had painted your face in stars,
The curl of your hair,
The curve of your smile,
Your scent woven like a hymn in the night,
Yet, she knew the truth.
I had confessed to the sunset, half-drunk on longing,
Words spilling out like waves crashing,
I had said all, yet, never your name.
I had lied to the sunset for the moon never knew it,
I was afraid to speak your name aloud,
For fear it would seal our fate,
That the sunset would chase after you as I did.
But you belong to me,
The name meant nothing to them, only you did.
Still, the sunset demanded your name.
On the first eighth night, I breathed, “A.”
The second, “V.”
The third, “E.”
When the fourth night came, I could not meet his gaze,
He asked softly, “No letter after E?”
Tears betrayed me, falling like silent rain,
The moon watched from afar,
She already knew.
“She’s lost, she thinks I’m not enough,”
I cried out to the fading sun,
How could he understand?
How could he see the hiding place of you in me?
But the star, always listening, had touched your soul while I turned away.
I was broken.
The sunset held me then,
Though his time waned,
He lingered,
Until the moon wrapped me in her silver arms.
He promised to return at dawn,
And he did but I did not.
For Avery had taken a piece of me,
And the rest of me followed.
I told the sunset about you,
And you set us aflame.
.png)