Always

you said and
I believed
too young to
read into such
absolute adverbs
too dumb to know
what you really meant
was always only
as long as you could

now that always
is through is it
never I’m in or
have I passed into
what once was

a frame without a picture
an empty swimming pool
an aging actor
past him prime
clinging to days before
desperately ignoring
wrinkles and obscurity

always I miss you
always I remember
always I love you
until I can’t

anymore