We cannot know how long we have
together, our bodies miming love,
an echo in each other’s arms,
when words become the sigh beside a sigh
and we are no one merging 
into one. This is how I understand
our suffering, hidden
in the bones of our hands,
in the delicate knots of our hearts 
coming undone, how slowly 
they loosen, how quickly
taken.


for Richard Miller
from ‘Life on Earth’ (Omerta Publications)