end result

measure the slick imprint
left on the mirror
to track the ones you hadn’t known
to the end and prove that they (you) are
not lost

and tell them again
because

your favorite spoken word is please
it’s a different story in chalk

the reason you stayed was to hear
that last phrase

hoping that it was about
our last day in time travel
or the spaghetti bowls we bought together

the first of few
that failed

and that old mustache perched
on a face i used to know
echoes a soft reminder in my ear
don’t stay

i can see that the result is not
what you had hoped for.