Then and now

(*Photo credit to Liz West*)

It was a summer's night when we met,
and I remember how the black sky wore stars like extravagant jewels,
as if they'd come out to gaze at us for once,
because we were beautiful, then.

And it was a winter's night when we parted.
When the air between us was heavy with a sense of longing: belonging, that didn't belong.
And those same gleaming stars let the black clouds engulf them.
Just like we did.
And there's nothing to see, now.