“Distance” by Justin Gawron ’21

Blackness surrounds me.
Its inky tendrils filling every nook
and its razor teeth gliding in my retinas,
yet I welcome this foul beast
that wraps itself around my body
                              as I lie alone.


Blackness surrounds me,
the kind of rot that
                 (on other nights)
fills my brain with dark —
my head whirring in its own puddle of anxieties,
gears clogging with the oil too thick to aid the machinery,
tonight creating a blank canvas of sorts
onto which I paint a picture of you

and I am at ease


and despite the distance between us
I can still feel your arms
                              around my neck,
your hot breath beating
                              against my face,
your lips pressed
                              against mine,
        and the darkness convinces me
        that you’re really here.