oddment

I knew you were afraid I'd disappear
so I've held on
keeping myself present
in old memories
clutching on to anything familiar
as the sepia crumbles all around

I haven't forgotten you
or what it felt like to knit that scarf
knowing you would wear it every day
and as the snow fell
you did

I'm left here
looking around
unable to completely let go
standing in the midst of ruins
keeping a small fire burning

You come and visit
maybe you can see my flame
but I know we shouldn't
rebuild on such a cracked foundation
but I need a place to go
why can't I find a new place to go

skin

is the smell of
onions
monsters of produce
really the only thing i
have left
a part of my skin
proof
that for an afternoon
we worked together
canning pickles and peaches

later i was covered
with a film
of chlorine
the grime of summer
an old
familiar feeling
yet in a suit
that didn't fit
mine
was lost

back home
my feet are falling
apart
skin crumbling away from
between my toes
perhaps
it's wear from travel
too much
from here
to
there
or
my body
signaling
i'm a new person
every
28 days

if i'm a new person
with
40,000 cells a minutes
gone
lost among
the places i've been
moving
leaving
living this nomadic lifestyle
with people changing
at every turn
well,
shouldn't be this hard