what is missing
is touch — is cotton to wool, sheer
to slub
is holding hands
is hug — forms moulding each
to each, body to body
rise to hollow
what is missing is skin warm against
cool, is the cheek-scuff
of familiar stubble
is rough sunbrown finger tracing
delicate never-seen-daylight crease
what is missing is
the warm air of whisper in her ear — is folding
into the scent of him — is the long weight
of his arm
across her shoulders like a bracket ending
this
Jane Pearn lives in Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders. She was of the winners in the 2019 Guernsey International ‘Poems on the Move’ Competition, and recently came second in the Against the Grain poetry competition.