muted
tethered
i let her
touch me without
touching
me
(tears before bedtime)
but
(listening to the deep ache
keeping the things that hurt
close
closed
making space for
kinder smotherings)
i could never
tell
you
friendship
isn’t
a consolation
prize
61 year old Jane Ayres has work in publications that include Magma, The North and Lighthouse. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award, a winner of the Laurence Sterne Prize and her first collection edible was published by Beir Bua Press (July 2022). Website: janeayreswriter.wordpress.com Twitter: @workingwords50