Lacking lilac in the palate

Inside the folds of the napkin responsible, lay earnest, beautiful moments, pearls among crumbs of diamonds, rougher than the idiom might imply, yet still infinitely edible. But the attendance at this picnic tells us living in the past is really living off. At some point, the feast will be digested or fester. Souffle scraps are not meant to be saccharine, but to be looked upon rather bitterly as the taste fades away, as the sweet tooth only sharpens.

I lost it. But the day before, you palmed the sand as it slipped through hands rebraiding the mooring ropes they held in pictures. Absent ships loomed down by the docks; we built a grainy castle from memory, from back when you were taller than me. The moats came later and sank the castles into the sea, after I realized I’d been taller for a while. Always, we chose the moments where we knew how high the tide came. That day, we chose the moments differently. That day, was the only time I told someone I loved them after the fact.