…Get[ting] Along Without You…

By Ian Scott

There’s this point in the song 

already swimming in heartache

Nina pushes deeper and pulls

up from the space in my chest

Well maybe-ee-eee

except   when   I 

hear  your      nammmme

My whole world is there,

in that croon 

I assure myself 

I’m getting along

mull through a sea of not-yous

on a dating app

the left-swipe already 

muscle memory 

But I’m making do 

Well maybe-ee-eee

except   when 

I comb through your clues

the two, three, four, hugs

goodbye

the stolen glance 

and indecipherable corner of your mouth 

from out the door

Did you leave me something there?

No. Can’t be stuck here 

in uncertain memories

that almost changed

my life 

Time moves cruelly

forward

even boulders in the stream 

erode with time 

So I escape

thinking 1,000 miles and a stack 

of unsent letters 

was enough to forget

then out of the dark

Well maybe-ee-eee

except   when 

I think of our skin showing blue 

in the moon’s light 

the beach is quiet

but for our breaths 

and the crashing waves