Pulvis et umbra sumus

to R.

He was once

an impeccable soul

I watched him flourish 

I watched him narrate his elated life 

with intricate words

I never understood.

I watched

quietly

I watched and loved him

warily.

One day

He fell

and everything

crackled and ruptured

I watched his life

all sprinkled on the floor

his contentment scattered and broken. 

I tried to pick up

the pieces

and glue them together

I tried to shape

mould 

and plaster 

what was left

a shattered man

that does not know me anymore

I am nothing

One day

he will remember

the little girl 

the little watcher 

who stitched his crippled heart

but I fear and tear

that day will never come

and the moon will laugh and savour

such formidable tragedy