sunset (letter to the sun)

you were treacherous, bright one

when you went down
unflinching

letting the earth,
that cold black ball
of rock
slide over your face

leaving me here
to milk heat
from the stars

in shadow, not yet a creature
of the dark

huddled down with the damp grass
holding the dew hostage
until dawn

I tell you, I will not embrace the night
while something inside me
still burns

a spark from your body of fire
that whispers
“not yet, not yet”

and a flame
that murmurs
“I have not forgotten”