"Somewhere in the night
someone feels the pain
the ones who walk away
try to love again..."

        –Stevie Nicks, Trouble in Shangri-La

It's when something is absent
that we notice it, crave it,
drown ourselves in the mirage

of it, convince ourselves that it
exists.       I realize that even
a hand-beaded French train and promises

don't guarantee anything, but love lived here
for a long time. I held it in my hands,
I felt it against me, like a mahogany six-string

strumming, strumming.       Sometimes
paralysis is the body's attempt
to firmly affix us to the ground, to save us

from injury when the shock finally
                                                                hits.
When ready,

in which direction
does one point their compass
after living a certain way for so long?

The possibilities are endless
is both expansive
and terrifying.