The silence between us is so loud
it leaves the taste of d y i n g wood on my
tongue, a da rk ne ss filled with
echoes of y o u r skin, drowning out
the sky with perpetual nothing.
I don’t know if I will ever again
see ocean blue reflected above.
Wind falls. Rain howls.
And snow billows into froths of mist
laced with frozen whispers. Air chills
under the weight of this nothing.
Y o u hold out y o u r hands, an offering
of penance, of promise,
but only emptiness swirls in y o u r palm prints.
Riley Danvers is a bisexual poet and author living in Portland, OR.