If you were here I would tell you the story of my life since we split up and hope we both could find forgiveness. If you were here I would show you where I threw my ring, the birch and aspen trees that watch over it, the raven that picks at snow trying to find it. If you were here I would show you how, out of habit, I still feel for that touch of gold I used to count on. If you were here I would rub your finger that points demurely in the air now forever, the tendons needed to bend it severed when you cut too deep. If you were here I would rub your empty belly like a wishing stone, knowing that even together our bodies can no longer fill the emptiness. If you were here we could finally name the child we chose not to have. Sometimes, even this far away from you, I see her, a cloud passing over the moon.
Kip Knott is a writer, teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Delaware, Ohio. His third book of poetry, The Other Side of Who I Am, is available from Kelsay Books. His debut collection of stories, Some Birds Nest in Broken Branches (Alien Buddha Press), is available on Amazon. You can follow him on Instagram at @kip.knott and read more of his work at kipknott.com.