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Ruminating over the ruins 
it was just one of those decades 
beneath a grey-blue sky 
thoughtlessly thinking of you 
we were a once-in-an-eon kind of thing 
and I shouldn’t have cared so much what everybody else thought 
‘cause now they’re all ghosts in an empty parking lot 
it’s only now I realize that it was a kiss goodbye 
and all the love songs, they don’t make sense anymore 
that’s when the bittersweet 
just turned to bitter 
moonless like last year’s winter 
fighting my way through the fog 
you can only storm out so many times 
before the storm is over 
even then, the future seemed so long ago 
and then one day, the spell just broke 
you know you’ve always been the template 
I always loved when you took your time and kissed me real slow 
and before we stop talking 
let me just say 
of all the people 
in all the world 
I'm glad it was us 
who fell in love 
may the roses in your eyes never die

Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 100 literary magazines. He’s the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry and a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams Writing Contest. He lives along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.