(2022)

 My osteology aches

With this new distance.

That I cannot go to you, 

hold your hand 

Gaze upon your sleeping face

— it surely has marked itself indelibly 

Into my bones, my joints aching

And nerves seeking out the cause

For the trauma my brain detects

In your immediate absence. 

My illness flares to life once more,

Roaring down the axons 

Looking for an impulse that says

Here I am, the part that is missing! 

Heal here! Tend here! 

Nurse this part back to health!

As though the distance could be soothed like 

The skinned knee you got from 

Running so fast that your legs and 

Your center of mass lost that 

Conversational flow that allows bipedal locomotion 

With kisses, cleansing cloths, and 

A moment to nurse calmness back into your spirit

Before you race off to the next adventure.