Poem: Mirage

Here's a poem I wrote this morning. Even when you know you're finally getting over someone, there are still those moments when you accidentally lose yourself in a mirage of memories. This is about those moments. I hope that it's tasteful - it's not meant to be overly personal or indulgently sentimental.

Mirage

When I think of you

It's as if the world slows down,

And the middle distance becomes not just a single point

In space

Into which I gawk, my eyes glazed over,

But a great yawning fissure in time

Saturated with countless tiny fragmented moments,

Fragile and wavering like a mirage of hot air:

Cigarette smoke;

The smell of a kitchen;

That feeling of shared privacy;

Bodies tessellating, mirroring;

The contours of skin;

Light peeping through window blinds;

Sketches in bed;

How I almost

Fell

Downstairs

Running to the door to greet you after your long trip away.

But you've been away a long time now,

And when I try to piece the memories together

They slither through the gaps between my fingers like water

And scatter away like shards of broken glass,

At once invisible and hidden.

My eyes, like the lens of a camera, abruptly refocus.

It appears time hasn't slowed down at all.

In fact, I've been staring into space for fifteen minutes.