You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

– Margaret Atwood, Power Politics

It’s been
too many nights
of being with

to now be suddenly
without

– Jewel Kilcher, A Night Without Armor

She tried to feel, tried to give it all.
But in the end it’s still wanting,
in the end something’s still missing.

So she tried to brace herself
for the impending fall,
not really knowing how painful,
no, not at all.

She tried to reason, tried to understand,
when did things get so out of hand?
Should’ve seen it coming, it was written in stone.
But was it folly to expect she wouldn’t end up alone?

Now she’s lost, fumbling with most
things that should be easy
when hell they are not,
no, not really.

But she’s got to pull away somehow,
got to let go of things somehow.

Because the world is still turning,
and life is too short not to go on living.

And so she gets up and dusts her pants,
not quite ready to look the world
in the eye just yet but not shirking either.

Because life has it’s ups and downs,
and yes she knows how clichéd that sounds.
She knows she might fall flat on her face again,
but she’s not so afraid of that anymore.

At least now she knows that out
there is so much more.

So so much more.