The State Of
Do you miss me
In the late stages of night
I’ve been struggling
Without you in Minnesota
The cold feels colder
At this time of year
I wish you were here
More than anything else
Your absence is most noticeable
When I’m tired
British Columbia feels smaller
When my heart’s not in it
I don’t see the point in staying
Submerged in the bleakness of Vancouver
My head is heavier on my neck
Without your shoulder to lean on
I don’t feel that I’m steady enough
When I’m all by myself I miss you
bloody nose
i looked to my left to see where you sat
hand held to your face, shock in your eyes
blood running through the cracks of your skin
red like roses dripping down your arm
i've never gotten a nosebleed before, you said
the sight of the liquid was jarring
it made my stomach hurt
nothing to do with the blood itself
but the fact that it was yours
reminds me of nine years ago
before you had front teeth and your skin was softer
the summer brown hair became towheaded
the blood-crusted hole on your shoulder
that made you bleed for three minutes straight
i saw your blood when you were younger
a baby body thinning
veins and ribs sticking out
your mind hasn’t allowed you to remember it
but you have had nosebleeds before –
a common effect from chemo
your hair returned to birth-born brown
port scar and surgery slices exist on your body
and you’re still my best friend of ten years
i'm glad you don’t remember seeing your blood
because now the color leaving your nose reminds me of then
LEAH COMES is
an English major
with a focus in
creative writing
and the Korean language.
As a junior at UB,
she has spent much time writing creative fiction
and poetry.
When not writing,
she spends
most of her time
watching sports,
and hopes to work in publishing and editing
after graduation.
FAVORITE SENTENCE:
”It was a magical thing,
to love someone
so much;
it was a feeling
so strange and slippery,
like a sheath of fabric
cut from the sky”
- from
In Memoria
by Alice Winn,