LOVE Poem: Pencil Led, by Avery Greenburg

If you look close enough,
at the palm of my left hand,
you’ll find a piece of pencil led,
sitting right below the surface.

I don’t remember exactly when it got there,
and I’ve been trying to figure out
exactly when it’ll fade.

Sometimes when I look at it,
I find myself mistaking it for you.

No one told me that losing you,
would surface in every corner of me,
that I’d find pieces of you in my own skin.

You are paper cuts in between
each and every one of my fingers,
I can still feel you
stinging me,
every time I reach for someone else’s hand.

You RSVP’d to all my milestones,
so now there’s an empty seat
in the front row of my life.
I find myself staring at it hoping,
you might just be running late.

Do you remember when we switched smiles?
You said you only needed yours
when you were with me.

Now I have your wisdom teeth and cavities
and smile lines made from laughing with,
someone else.

Lately, I’ve been finding your dreams
camouflaging as sunspots all over my skin.

I’ve tried to carve them out,
but ended up with scratches,
that look awfully like your handwriting.

They say your birthmarks
show where you were killed in your past life,
so I etched the sound of your laughter
into my palms,
hoping you’ll recognize it
the next time we meet.

If we ran towards each other
and collided in the middle,
would our scars line up like puzzle pieces,
until we are just one person,
when we hit the ground?

One day my kids will ask me,
How’d you get that scar?
and I,
I won’t remember anymore.

You are tan lines and seasonal freckles.
You are not as permanent,
as I once thought you were.

You will fade.