Drink water Unclench your jaw Take a deep breath Take several Be unoriginal Reach out to someone you need Check in on someone who may need you Go to sleep Get up Keep drinking water Keep breathing
What Remains
The alcohol prep pad on the floor(that I picked up then andwhich has traveled back home with me)The box of wound dressing blocking the middle of the TV screenThe throw pillow cover, empty the pillowon the stained loveseat The package
On A Young Early-Bloomer as I Had Been
I’ve seen her a handful of timesbeforeToday Her outfit intentional(a little risque?)(am I simply too long out of that age range) But I remember the feeling Her back straightenedas she passes someone certainschoolmates maybe Her friendwhose hands flew to covermuch
As Others Have Said
your ghost is notwhere your face was the single most heartbreaking thingi knowis you That you’re just not here and you aren’t just not here You are nowhereto be found should we ache in secret make music of decline as
So-called Sibling Rivalry
Once in the heat of an argument We took it to The DeciderThe two of us both Feeling the roiling flashes of betrayal and resentment no doubt The details are, of course, no longer with meBut in the memory of