Erie to Tucson

I’m moving

forward.  I’ve already walked

away, you know I have. I grew up leaving

people I loved when things got hard. It’s not

a pattern but learned.

There is no working through –

just dismissal. It’s best

to stay at arm’s length or farther-

my heart didn’t listen. The word

love is looked down on in a poem

but it fits here,

for you.

I can’t leave without saying

I love you.