You first came across her
at the Amtrak station in Waterloo...

Their howls
pierce the evening...

I shower at the darkest hour,
processing grief from old memories...

This morning, I listened to smooth jazz
in your honor, urging the saxophone...

I fall asleep next to you,
a shadow from another...

If there could be a place
where realism fades into the background...

You appear as a ghost to me,
when I play chords simply yet soulfully...

I've grown weary
writing of you...

I'm not quite as restless as the
last rainfall. Though some may...

My cousin's pregnant during a pandemic.
We're the same age. We share the same first name...

they won't ask if you're not presenting
a closed art gallery...

Last night, I had a dream­
that she was dying...