Katie Hampton

is watching 

so many 

different people 

transform 

into one 

hearing the echo 

their infancy

their childhoods 

love that haunts you  

I remember you. 

I remember you. 

I remember you. 

so juicy 

it fills my mouth

and runs

down my cheek 

my ability to trust

in a million pieces 

at the deep center 

of a labyrinth 

how will anyone find me here? 

it’s not the same at all

we laid in bed on the morning of our children’s birthdays 

sharing our remembering 

the joy and sharpness of life 

and living 

it’s not the same 

waking up without you 

our daughter curled tightly against

the space you used to be 

it’s not the same without you 

but I’m alive

and still me 

a thunderstorm

a comet

love that feels solid 

that tangles its roots

with mine  

swallows us whole 

a small blue ship

carrying our children  

to the future

difficult women

are the ones who’d be

excellent men