Shreds

My eyes are dry like a red sky
and I am trying to stay up for you
and be here.

Your naked hip
is like a hillside
in my memory
I am standing at
the summit of
watching stars fall.

Inside all the time,
the cold ground
and the endless shade
away from me.

I cut up pictures
and mix them in
the cereal boxes
not yet shipped
from where I work.

The lucky ones
will see your face
against the canyon rock
backdrop
from our vacation
seven years ago,

and the not so
will see my hands
over your eyes
standing behind you
while you smile
so surprised
that we still have
all that time.

All the indifferent
will swallow up the fragments
by the spoonful
making sure to chew them loudly
often belching as they’ve finished,

and all those days will be forgotten
as our separate lives continue
with no more evidence
that you were once in love with me.