here at the cliff-side
along the edge,
etched are your handprints
where i broke your nails with
my steel-toed boots then
kicked you into an
ocean of cherry-red water,
i had no choice… i’m sorry.
here trying to find you again,
i can’t jump in-
i can’t swim because-
i’m so fucking afraid-
i’ll drown.
holding on to a piece of rope
hoping that you’ll climb up
waiting for you to call out
i’m checking my phone to flash your name.
// i am a vessel of experience // / a poem / with lines written / / by all those i love / especially those / / who can no longer say it back / / by chirps of morning birds / by glasses of wine / / by the gentle kiss / of the summer wind / all this time i’ve kept trying for a way to see you amongst waves of crimson but i am you it’s been that way ever since we met
the rivers of my eyes flow
into the ocean with you
maybe you’ll float on by
i’ll keep that rope around
just in case
i kiss the sand traced by your fingers
i am so tethered that it has set me free
to be where i need to be
for there is no distance that i cannot feel you.
MiC Columnist Vik Rupasinghe can be reached at vrupasin@umich.edu.