Heart and Hands [Josef/Rasmus]

[roesslyng]

Title: Heart and Hands
Characters/Pairing: Josef -> Rasmus (SSSS OCs)
Rating: E for Everyone
Length: 34 lines poetry
Summary: In memory of Rasmus, written on the evening prior to departing to join the expedition to the silent world.
Other: Backstory poem from the point of view of Jo Jansson*, my original character from the SSSSForum perssssona/OC expedition project.



Heart and Hands

I keep the photo close and safe
as in my mind your face has faded
and I can't see it until I look
at that picture of us so long ago.
We were bright, mirthful, open
arms around shoulders, wide smiles
even I, who goes around close-lipped
showed my joy back then in that moment.
I want to keep this thought of you
pressed to my heart, secret, safe
so that I might know you as you were
and not as I saw you on that day
when you breathed for the last time
and fell out of my life.
I sank into blackness, forgot myself
and I know that you'd have chided me
would give a good tongue-lashing
if you heard tell of it.
Now as I pack for this journey
I will box up my grief
slip it into my luggage
amid spare clothes, odds and ends
with the volume of verse you wrote for me
and the wooden comb you carved for me
and I'll leave the key for the lock at home
where it belongs, shut it tight.
Even without you by my side
I'll step into the world again
shoulders square, back straight
with vows to use my heart and hands
to hold back death and darkness
and remind myself not to forget
the strength you saw in me.