Even Fallen Things

You would have noticed the pigeons,
the way they scattered when the bells struck noon�"
you always said chaos was just music
we hadn’t learned to dance to yet.

You would have laughed at the boy
who dropped his ice cream cone,
but you’d have bent to help him too,
handing him the ruined scoop as if
even fallen things deserve to be carried.

You would have walked ahead of me,
your shadow lengthening like a compass arrow,
always pointing elsewhere,
yet I followed, as if the world
was brighter when I trailed your steps.

And when the clouds broke open the sun,
I swear it felt like you,
arriving unannounced,
reminding me that beauty is brief,
that it never belongs to us,
and yet it lingers,
like your voice does�"
long after the square has emptied.