Unvanished

I met her

in the soft lavender twilight

her dark auburn hair

woven into ringlets

braided by salt air fingers.

Her smile was as warm

as the sun against my skin

which prickled into gooseflesh

as a breeze embraced me.

The turquoise smell of the sea

filled my lungs with belonging

as my toes melted into the wet

shore-kissed sand

like a mango popsicle searing

on asphalt in the Yucatan.

The gulls above chattered

waiting for one of us to drop

a morsel of anything.

She pointed to the sea foam

swirling with applause

and the clouds

that had shaped themselves into smiles

then to the rising moon

who tipped his hat

and laughed

with pride as the stars came out

to parade along with us.

She touched my cheek

winked, smirked - then vanished

leaving all the possibilities

of everything

here-

open for my heart

to take.