Your hands; how they hugged my shoulders, my back, the nape of my neck. How they kept the rhythm of our conversations. “I know you.” “Let me know you.”
We are in the same room, but you can’t know how I see you there. You are not in the corner; you are right next to me, right across from me.
I shut my eyes and think of what is real, like you would want me to. You, in my life, laughing with me. That is real.
How you say my name, not like a prayer. A reminder. “Nicole” as in, “you are here”, as in “you are a real thing”
You, saying my name, being here. That is a real thing.