your_last_voice
tender_square
venus loiters
in
the
background, pulsing
like
the
tip
of
a
lit
cigarette
hanging
loosely
from
the
mouth
of
god
.
wait
by
the
water
and
watch
the
satellites
pair
off
, whisking
and
dipping
across
the
galaxy;
i
will
be
with
you
before
you
know
it
.
the
mountains
reach
for
the
sky
as
i
do
toward
you
.
if
you
listen
for
their
song
—
star
-strung
and
far
-flung—it
is
as
close
as
my
breath
blowing
through
your
lungs
while
you
dream
.
220127
...
unhinged
when
i
called
you
in
the
hospital
,
i
didn't
think
it
was
you
.
you
tersely
told
me
it
was
bad
and
hung
up
rather
quickly.
so
quickly
that
i
doubted
it
was
you
until
i
was
sitting
near
you
a
week
later
.
it
wasn't
until
recently
,
listening
to
harry
chapin
songs
you
used
to
sing
me
as
a
little
girl
why
the
disappearance
of
your_voice
bothered
me
so
much
.
your_voice
and
your_hugs
were
the
two
most
shared
parts
of
my
childhood
.
whether
i
was
hyperventilating
or
having
nightmares
,
you
singing
to
me
and
hugging
me
was
virtually guaranteed.
the
singing
deeper
than
i
realized
until
recently
when
i
could
hear
your
voice
layered
over
harry's
even
though
it's
just
a
memory
now
.
that
one
of
the
first
things
i
ever
heard
when
you
came
to
the
neonatal intensive
care
unit
to
feed
me
was
your
singing
.
the
nurses
would
wheel
all
the
other
isolettes
in
the
nicu
to
your
side
and
you
would
sing
the
whole
ward
to
sleep
.
the
nurses
would
bring
you
sandwiches
for
making
their
job
easier
.
that
voice
was
the
voice
i
wanted
to
remember
.
my
brain
couldn't
compute
the
voice
i
heard
that
day
on
the
phone
.
it
scared
me
;
i
felt
compelled
to
hang
up
first
.
i
had
mostly
silent_conversations
with
you
in
the
end
because
my
brain
couldn't
compute
most
of
what
you
said
in
the
end
.
somehow
,
jeff
understood
.
so
i
let
him
do
all
the
work
in
the
end
.
i
was
video
chatting
with
allison
and
jake
recently
and
she
started
singing
'
all
my
life's
a
circle
...'
and
i
could
hear
the
you
i
wanted
to
remember
layered
over
the
top
of
her
voice
.
we
made
a
sad
eye_contact
through
the
screen
as
jake continued
to
color
.
220128
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from
