your tears don't save a soul.

_{[it took him 129 days to finally stop breathing without you there.]}

on day 32, he bought flowers and slid them into a thin vase
on the windowsill. a petal fell off and floated to a silent rest
on the water's surface, and a single ripple weakly faded away.

he threw the flowers out that night.

on day 58, he woke from a nightmare, clawed at the pillow
your picture was on, and his fingernail snagged on the paper.
he gazed wantonly for a minute at the ragged shreds, then
promptly turned on his side and shut his eyes.

the torn-up paper drifted off into the cracks between the floors.

on day 99, he thought you came back, and he cried out in joy,
only to watch as the tears washed away the blurred image of you.
he clutched at the wadded up napkins in his hand, and teardrops
fell, blending into the many there before them.

he saw you again that night, and wished himself to wake up.

_{[on day 129, he lay six-and-a-half feet under the ground,
white daises scattered daintily around the freshly mounted earth.
you stood alone, in the rain and the trees, and you regretted how
you came back in time just to cry out in broken sobs.]}