object permanence
outside his road and closing the door behind me
is when i realize what object permanence really means,
that things continue to exist even when
they cannot be observed & this is when I remember
that his staircase does not disappear
when I am not walking down his staircase
in yesterday’s clothes thinking anyone can do
anything they want to and by anyone of course
I mean me that when I run my hands under cold
cleansing water turn my mind to something other
than you you are still out there, somewhere,
turning time zones in your sleep, full fleshed & doe eyed
all of yesterday as yet unfiltered
by the light of recollection
I want to believe in the myth of a forever
sunflowers twisting continuously in time and space
laughter spanning not only future positions
but you in every sense of my now
yet standing at the point at which you have
taken your leave there is a vanishing
of continuity we do not always remember
and now there are clouds stiffening in my eyes
a surprise something to remember
after all each disappearance then,
an annihilation each reappearance,
another resurrection
Natalie Chin (b. 1992) grew up in Singapore and lives in London. She is the Literary Editor of Galavant Magazine and can be found online here: http://herbonestructure.com or here: http://twitter.com/herbonestrcture
