only on paper

Somewhere in my mind
I keep a photograph of you
filed away
with the rest of yesterday's
memorabilia
you're not as real to me
today
as you used to be
I would hardly
believe in you at all
except the void you created
and the aching feeling
left in me
like an amputation
a scale out of balance
the pain has been here
much longer
than you ever were
it was another lifetime
a time of laughter
and youthfulness
leaving me exposed
as a raw wound
now I write you into
reality...
only on paper
will you live on.... for me?
It's best to let
old wounds heal themselves
get a tourniquet someone
I'm bleeding.... again

03241977