I Should Have

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/76qt5j/all_the_fellow_lives_for/dog5h4d/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/76q4mk/44th_fear/dog4kyo/

You stood, hair of scarlet,
beneath the tilt of hazy clouds;
I pulled you close and we melted
like two pieces of hot buttered toast,
kissing until the sun fell to her knees.
I knew your lips the way you knew my name.

I should have told you then,
but the rusty words snagged in my throat
festering away in a pool of stagnant saliva.

Now I softly trace the shadow of your life,
fingers trembling over
pleated folds and incomplete rhymes,
over the tread of your footsteps,
sewn between the indemnities of swallowed desires.

I feast thoughtfully
upon the last days of your freshness,
almost on the cusp of tasting
the sweetness of your uncorked laughter.

Remembering you now,
stood tall, a beacon on that lonely hill,
I shed all of my fears
like a tree in Autumn fall,
permitting me, too late, to love you,
with all of my copious, naked care.

THE END

If anyone can think of a better title, I will be very appreciative :D Thanks for any feedback!