in another future,
standing in the kitchen with you

ALAINA CRAIB

You come up behind me and kiss the back of my neck. Gently, because there is no bitterness. In the sudsy sink water there is a portal. It swirls around our dirty dishes. I stick my hands in, just to check, and am suddenly overcome with such an incredible, deep sadness and pity for myself somewhere very far away, stuck in a different world. Our heartache.

I choose instead to turn away; to face you. I wrap my arms around your neck, dripping soap down the back of your shirt.

What’s all this about, you laugh, as I kiss your eyelids again and again and again.

Nothing, I say. I just missed you.