Hanging from the tip of the highest branch
Always visible
But just beyond reach
Unattainable
But somehow by some stroke of luck
You dropped
Straight into my open hands
Beaming
The way you shone
Forever preserved in memory
You were the apple of my eye

Winter spring summer fall
I thought we'd see through them all
But it was an illusion I was
Wrong
Happiness was just a mask you wore
And suddenly
I had less to gain and more to
Lose
Of this I was completely unaware
Oblivious to the whispers
Messages carried over the grape vine

Your voice became toxic
Something I craved
But something that rotted the
Insides
The poison lurking beneath
Caught me off guard
And all too quickly you were rolling
Away
My hands were left empty
My eyes cold and clouded over
The butterflies gone from my stomach

I've dragged my thoughts of you
I can't bear to abandon them
Not wanting to believe what felt so natural was
Artificial
Sometimes my imagination wanders
Crisp apples and the smell of fresh air
Engulf my subconscious
Tempting
But I force myself to remember
The scars were left deep in the roots
And I convince myself poisoned apples aren't for me