Should have been a weekend of lace
chrysanthemum and hollyhock,
maybe a pair of citrine or moonstone earrings.

Instead, the diamonds have all fallen out,
lost in the dirt of a decrepit garden
full of dessicated daffodils.

Victims of internecine insecurities,
you were afraid our house of cards 
would collapse if not built fast enough

while I was too weak to push denial,
risking wrath to stop the careening
before you drained every drop of my spirit.

Lines in my voice still cut to this day.
No. I will not be coming home, and
I do feel like I’m losing a friend.

Now a twist of fate somehow has me
stumbling into a family portrait,
children surrounding your new name.

Those children suggest candy or iron,
sweetness, strength, and perhaps most fittingly
the charm of majestic amethyst.

I linger on the image only for a moment
before drinking again from my browning cup, dreaming
of one day getting just two cards to stand together.