You’re lying close enough that
your eyes are black liquid stars and
I can count the constellations of
new sugar freckles on your skin
and taste your breath in mine.
And you tell me that you’re lonely
not lonely alone, but something deeper
and more tangled that took you under,
and you wonder if it might soften if
you were surrounded by people
calling your name, or if you could
taste the salt of your mum’s gyoza
again, or if your phone blinked back
more messages of assent, or if this yawn
of empty feeling could be stuffed shut
with stuff. You’re close enough that you
can feel my heart beat back
and see in my eyes that I am lonely too
and roughly reflected there you see that
as sure as we have eyes to shine and
skin to freckle and breath to breathe we
will forever get lost in our loneliness
wandering tightly together, always alone
until we find where we know is home.
Originally from Oxford (UK) Jo Matthews is a freelance writer and copywriter living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her poetry and writings have appeared in Popshot magazine, Acumen, Fish Anthology, Prairie Fire, The Rappahannock Review, and The Times (UK), among others. She was recently selected by Arvon as a winner of their 5-day Poetry Challenge and shortlisted for the Creative Ink Poetry Prize 2023. She has completed workshops and courses with Breadloaf (USA), Arvon (UK) and the International Writers Collective (Netherlands). She is mum to two small daughters, who are simultaneously keeping her young and ageing her rapidly. GENRE: Poetry