because i miss you

More than just the beads resting opalescent on your throat

Fragile strands of string, intricate glass ornaments, hair tangled in the clasp

A necklace.

The whole equals more than the sum of its parts.

Or does it?

One bead

                For all the things that remind me of you.

                The crumpled wrapper of a long-finished Hershey’s kiss, International students speaking animated French,

                                Accents as rich as the espresso in their recycled cups

The medium rare steak ushered off its plate and into a Styrofoam container

The intonation in a passerby’s voice, the laughter in my own

But what about the color?

                Dark blue, like your eyes

                That mirror mine only wider

                                       And ever widening in response to the vastness of the world

                                                                                                      the vastness of our dreams

Contemplating existence in an ancient house that was as alive as our own bodies

                Were we philosophers?

                                Or just two small girls

                Mommy and Daddy issues that could rival a pile of freshly raked leaves

                                Except we never saw leaves because the wind swept them all away

            the wind swept us away

Swept us across the country, across the world, across the universe

I will always feel you in the wind

   

So take this  necklace out and put it on

Save it for special occasions

                Or wear it everyday

Think of it as wearing one thousand little memories, twenty years of sisterhood, two decades  of friendship

                                Or one fifth of a lifetime’s work of art

                Which ever you choose

                Is fine with me

Because it wont make me miss you any less