dear future
I’m glad we are friends.
I understand your desire
to lure me closer, to devour
my attention, to mischief-wink
at my foolish belief that one day
we could actually touch. It’s okay.
There are other ways to
share intimacy, like when
I write a commitment, in pen
on the pages of my date book.
I feel you then, tugging at my
stomach, whispering: I’ll meet you
there. Whispers are intimate too.
VANESSA SHIELDS 