Charcoal

I struggled for months
in search of a word
that perfectly describes you
but I have it now
it came to me so unexpectedly
just like you did
in what feels like a
whole other lifetime

Charcoal
that's the one word that describes you perfectly

For you are what remains
when the fire dies down
just like the love that remains
once lust is extinguished

And like charcoal
you leave behind traces
of your presence
you turned me into the color of ebony once upon a time
remember?
and even now
I find traces of black dust
under fingernails, toenails
reminding me
of you

And most of all
despite all that happened
you are too pure to be white
so easily dirtied
for black fights back
holds on to its blackness
blemished so rarely
just like you
too good to be
tarnished
like anything white
that so easily loses its whiteness

And so charcoal
that's the one word
that so perfectly describes
who you are