Cygnus XI

by Heather Carnaghan

A hole so vast and so deep
that the dropped stone
never makes the telltale “thunk” as it collides with earth.

An emptiness, infinite like space.
expanding,
ever larger the longer it exists.

It sucks the air from my lungs
and swallows every possibility.

Into the blackness
go her lips and her eyes
her kisses and the things she would see
her tiny fingers
and all they might have held
her perfect feet
and all of the places
we should have gone together.