A Thousand Days

If I had a thousand days left to live,

I'd paint the sky in a deep shade of blue

Full of all the words and stories that have yet to come true.

I will never get to watch the green of the neighbor's tree

Turn yellow, then brown,

Until the termites of the earth leave nothing for me to see.

If I had a thousand days left to live,

I may come to understand the nature of transience

As I bask under the glow of the dying sun

In the company of your unspoken gentle eloquence.

I'd miss the pang of the salt-air sea

Brushing along the shoreline till its waves kissed you and me.

If I had a thousand days left to live,

I'd regret nothing but the places our lost feet have not yet reached

And the peaks and summits I swore we'd one day together besiege.

Even in my afterlife, the bed would grow cold without your company,

No bestselling comedy would be the same without your commentary;

But even in the looming sadness, I'd nevertheless be happy.

If I had a thousand days left to live,

I'd love you all the same, just as I did from then till now—

I'd still pen you letters that suspiciously sound like marriage vows.

And in the quiet of the night, with the city half-asleep,

Under your gravity, I'd fall again into the ocean of your heart so deep;

And I know we hate endings because we both swore on love's name,

But trust me, because of you—

Because of you, I will never be the same.