pretty much alive right now

Necklace

c. 1835

gold filigree set with garnets

France

English Embroidered Mull Dress

c. 1815

She was a ragdoll,

all pale softness

and tired, bloodshot eyes,

boarding a train with nowhere left to call home.

He was a tuxedo,

black as midnight

with a white heart stitched to his chest,

traveling because standing still hurt too much.

They sat across from each other,

because the faints had deemed it so.

Outside,

the world slipped away

in corn fields and engine steam.

Inside,

they saw each other’s pains

through that fog and haze of regret

He needed a stamp

She couldn’t find the words to write

On that page in the sun’s light

A butterfly’s wish was granted that day,

“Let these two find solace,” it said

“Let that mighty gator find them and bring them home,”

“To that place that runs free of honeydew and wine.”

And so that tale begins,

Where two strings crossed

A different path these cats took,

To end up in this wonderful book.