such average silhouettes
living in the light of their honeymoon
doused with kisses and expectations,
a clever guise for kerosene.
they paint phase by phase a map of forever,
not realizing that the amber shade of their moon will fade.
Every full and every crescent will set again
and before darkness –
the lover’s eyes will see something less sweet,
a mustard sun,
but they won’t dare to confuse that for reality,
hand in hand, a tight rope walk of grand illusion,
to see sweetness where there will be none.

before darkness, they will never accept the sun.

(based on a prompt from another year – “write a poem titled ‘before darkness’.”)