Longing

It’s a ball of knotted string

Stuck under my ribcage.

Whenever I start to untangle it,

I break a sweat & forget

Why I even tried. 

It’s thirst after a tall glass

Of water, aching, curling

Around my neck like a vise. 

It’s the damp

Lingering in a spring day, 

Eyes that could hold an ocean

But that never look into mine. 

It’s wild, honeyed laughter that 

I chase around the corner, only to find

There was

Nothing 

There.