Nostalgic hands reach out
to touch this holy mantle,
brushing away dust and
memories best forgotten
I breathe deep and
listen for the
scent of you
to come visit me,
more real and present than
the space in each photo
where your face is
meant to be
but never does appear
Every nerve ending
connected to the
pounding in my chest
screams that you
should be in there,
not ghosted away to
a fortress of his will that
keeps you at arm’s distance
and me without a key
My mind hurls itself at
the locked steel bars,
a battering ram to
the door of all things unfair,
kicking and bashing
until the pain
from bloodied mental knuckles
gently lay me
to the cool uncaring floor
where I weep a river that
floods the moat
Because you wanted to be there too.
Among other things, J 