Isolation poem #4
Dear Friends: I’m glad you’re far away and please stay well. I’m glad you’re far away and I don’t want to touch your skin or hold you close. I’m glad you’re far away, so far I cannot reach you with my arms or hands or lips or breath. Yes, I’m glad you’re far away and there’s no caress possible or probable, not now, not soon. I’m glad you’re far away, so that the mystery of my body remains a mystery: Am I a vector? Am I vulnerable? I’m glad of this sharp pain that tells me you are far too far away, so far though very near, mere city blocks made infinite by resolve: I will be separate. I will hold myself apart, I’ll do my part apart from you, to part from you. Believe me, I’m glad you’re far away; I think your absence is the part of me I love.
Haley Isleib