Coats my lips in sugar

I still use the tubs of lip gloss you bought me

When we were first together

Chocolate, raspberry, mint

Do I savor them because they’re

Good and sweet (and obsolete)?

Or because they’re from a time and place 

Long gone

Health food stores that smelled like lavender

Filled with the hope of immortality

Natural means we’ll never die

And the best is yet to come

Or because I worry what will happen 

When they’re gone?

That they’re the unwitting hourglass

Measuring our remaining time

Or are they nothing but 

A thoughtful gift from a new boyfriend

Working hard to impress

A forbidden treat for the kids

A kiss from the ghost of the past

A reminder of your love that

Coats my lips in sugar

For IWL