Distinctively his; the hard press of torso,
not quite glass – blue – turquoise.
The panel I collapse against –
forehead landing on the smooth of this.
After, there’s an echo.
The same sense trigger in my office;
archive room; the air that surrounds
my car in the outside lot.
It lingers about the hallways
and I feel myself expand with touch
memory; damp hands; cool cotton
underwear inside which I carry him.
________________
Dr Charley Barnes is a lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing at the University of
Wolverhampton. Her work has been published in various journals and her full collection,
Lore: Flowers, Folklore, and Footnotes was published by Black Pear Press in February 2021. She also publishes fiction as Charlotte Barnes.