My Breath

My dearest — my breath, my love —

I write this now to no one.
To shadows. To silence. To the empty space where once you stood.

Every night I return to this page,
because there is nowhere else I can return to.

You are gone.
And yet — you are everywhere.

I watch the world in slow motion now.
Every passerby, every shifting of light through a windowpane,
reminds me of the way you used to turn, the way your eyes would search for mine —
as if some secret understanding bound us.

I am haunted by that notion still —
that somewhere, there remains a love in flames.
Unseen. Untouched.
Yet burning me alive.

How many times I stood foolish in this game,
believing that love alone could save us.
That if I held out my hand long enough,
you would turn and say: Take my breath away.

But life is cruel. Time is colder than I ever believed.

I watched you slip through the hourglass,
helpless to stop the fall.
And when the mirror crashed — when all I had of you shattered —
I called for you through every broken shard.

You did not answer.
Perhaps you could not.

Now I live with the echo of that day,
and this letter I will never send.

For if only for today, I would be unafraid —
if only I could cross this endless ocean to where you are.

But no voice returns to me. No gaze. No breath.

And still, my heart repeats its ancient vow:

My love — take my breath away.

Forever yours,
even in the silence.

by Onnaya