dear close thing twining /
before I heard a voice / before a thought / I felt you leaving
/ wary / lone / how long I stared with eyeless eyes /
long longing / fearly felt the empty /sense senseless
your heartbeat / gone
my / heart / beat
I stay I stay I stay
a useless trick that fails to find the loss / and impossible
/I too go /
my fleeing / string untying / loose end flying / began
my sole / soul / deliberate / began
a long forgetting / the always remembering
your deep touch / our cell to cell / the possible

oh pearl / eggs and teeth / pouring away
I uncloak loss / shudder fear in wicked weather /
crisp point of dagger needles a deeper cut /
reclaims what is known by heart
I listen to disturbance / wait for truth to trust me /

dear other / souls can twine at anytime/ never stop trying / we can touch again

poem and photograph by Jo Mariner