a cold, snowy night,

at your bus stop.

for a lifetime, i could stay.

holding my bottles,

i could be okay.

but i will never see you,

not your shadow, not another day.

so i will turn the other way,

a world apart,

our hearts remain.

I LIKE TO SAY YOUR NAME

I like to say
your name

when you're
not here

turn you
into sound

conjure you out of
thin air

so that you appear
before me

dressed in sound
only

memory sketching in
the rest of you

as if sound
was just an outline

and love
colours you in

adding the voice last
so I can hear you say.

"Hello you..!"
and there you are

as present
as present

can be.

I like to say
your name

when you're
not there.

I mistook salt for sugar
and it burned my mouth
every time I took a drink.
Sipping, I decided the sting
was more tolerable
in small doses.
But one accidental gulp
sent me running.
and now I’m just left with
a salty aftertaste in my mouth
Or maybe that’s my tears