The Sun Is Setting

The Sun Is Setting

He says he's not sure.

She tells him that no one ever is.

That love doesn't wait for certainty

it grows from risk.

The sun is setting, she says,

not as a warning,

but as truth the sky keeps repeating.

He smiles like she's being dramatic.

She wishes she were.

She wishes this light could last forever.

She tells him, were still young.

We could be something before the world hardens us.

He says, Its not the right time.

She asks, when will it ever be?

The air grows quieter after that.

They start walking slower,

sun is setting, she whispers again.

He pretends not to hear it.

Maybe if he doesn't look at the horizon,

it won't disappear.

She tries to steady them.

She says, if you don't love me, I'll understand.

But if you do-please, don't let fear make the choice for you.

He just stands there,

his silence heavy,

like a door that's almost closed.

And she feels it

that shift inside her,

the one that turns wanting into waiting.

The sun is setting,

and she's starting to fade with it.

Not the way light dies

the way it softens,

accepting that the day is over.

She keeps talking,

but her words sound further away.

He says, I just need time.

And she realizes she's been giving it to him all along.

The light is low now.

Even her hope looks tired.

She still loves him,

but it's quieter, the kind of love that doesn't beg to be seen anymore.

She thinks maybe this is how love ends,

not in anger,

but in understanding.

The sun is setting and she's still there,

watching the sky learn to let go of its color.

He reavches for her, finally

but his hand arrives to late.

She smiles,

not out of cruelty

but peace,

and in that golden silence,

she fades with the sun.

When he blinks, she's gone.

The warmth, the voice, the light,

all of it.

And then, carried softly on the wind,

he hears her whisper..

the sun has set.