gaslight

how could i forget

it snowed in july 

when you tried to convince me

that i had imagined it

like i had imagined so many other things

but i didn’t 

i did not imagine it

just like i did not imagine

the times when my eyes saw

that which could not be unseen

and my ears heard 

that which could not be unheard

yet still

you tried to convince me

that it was my imagination

or that it was a joke

but I could not ignore 

that which was engraved in my senses

burned into my memory

just like i could not

give up the hope

that what we had was real

that it was solid

instead of a castle of smoke

built upon a foundation of quicksand 

but in the end 

the cognitive dissonance was dissolved

by a hard slap in the face

by truth

ringing its sharp crystalline bell

and i woke up

woke up from the walking dream

where i was enclosed in a mirrored box

with two dimensional illusions

reflected on all sides 

the illusions shattered

and for the very first time

i walked free

yes it did snow in july 

and just like the snowflakes that fell

all that was left

were evaporated promises

but that no longer matters

as i forge on ahead

to much brighter promises 

that do not melt in the sun