At my age

those who were married
are now divorced
and maybe
remarried
and maybe
divorced again
and those
of us
who
were never married
long
for anything
other
than the life
we lived
and I
have to catch
myself
from falling
into
the gaps,
imagining
what it would be like
to be held
by a person
who will be
snoring
in minutes
instead of
all of this
humming
and everything
in my apartment
exactly where I put it
when I wish
someone
had misplaced
at least
something.

Ron Riekki has been awarded a 2019 Best of the Net finalist, 2020 Dracula Film Festival Vladutz Trophy, 2019 Très Court International Film Festival Audience Award and Grand Prix, 2020 Rhysling Anthology inclusion, and 2022 Pushcart Prize.  Right now, Riekki’s listening to The xx’s “Islands.”