Knowing it won't return

Your words never reached my ears—
by then a longer waiting
had already set out toward our memories.

Why do you keep calling me
in this unbroken summoning?

The moment a single tear
fell upon my skin
I startled—
you had never held me
in such tenderness before!

You're not the same as before, you know?

Yet you've asked me to hold your hand tight,
as if in this world
I am your only wanting.

Breathe deep—
everything will be all right in a moment.

This instant
will never return
to our lives again.