Tarnish

by Nanor Pilibossian

Frankincense and myrrh

From a kindled wick by a glowing portrait,

The room grew icier; the light pecked my skin, a flame fighting for one hopeless breath.

Was it a change of heart or a shift in spirit? Following A yellow brick road

That led to more than one city of glimmering stone.

Through a gallery of familiarities, I waltzed with the ones I had once touched. Missteps and stumbles became a routine

As the dance came to an unversed tango. Why did it all become so complicated

When what we all once knew was a telephone game? Teased in a single chain of acquainted faces,

The players left as the whispers grew fainter.

Sentiments caught in an inundation

As the water turns from grey to limpid.

I gasp for air once I reach the surface,

Floundering, coughing up what I have already engulfed. Facing the glass door,

Our palms paint smears on the polished plane. The smudges and streaks sit across

The remains of a chapter left blemished.

I opt to say we grew apart