I said longing because it came closest

said song because we sang

said distance said absence

took pictures of your bookshelf

because I wanted to read what you read

wanted your mind inside my mind

wanted to inhabit your house

on the white-washed prairie

to watch the fields in all seasons

where you daydreamed your work into being

I said don’t go you said I know

I never wanted to

I said dead and meant all instances

of everyone I’ve ever loved now altered

now image candlelit on my altar

ghost photos I pray to at night

I said dead because you sing

to me from the fields at night

become chorus with crickets and owls

I said chorus but chorus was never right

because there is no word for when the dead

call out to us I said call

you said response I said what shall I sing to you

from the wide-awake night you say comet

you say stardust you say meteor shower

I say how is it that still the earth revolves

I said revolves when I meant absolves you

from your leaving I said absolves

when I meant you dissolve

your body now body of water

your shore now far-flung

boomeranged away

I said return

when I meant its opposite

I meant the world before the afterworld