Kate Potter

Lost

A lip
lost
among the changes

A touch
A hand
A palm placed against a cheek
The warmth that moves
through a body
like no other feeling in the world
They talk about butterflies
Fireworks
Nerves
that jump in stomachs that turn
When really
the feeling is just
peace

But somehow it isn’t a guarantee
Once found it can be
lost

Lost among a thousand conversations cut short
Lost among the sleepless nights apart
Among the torn edges of tears
left to dry
among the changes

Moonlight once spilled upon my stomach
Now droplets of milk
running down the marks of stretched skin
Where your head used to lay
that space is always taken
Hands that clamour for this body
yours is the one I need
I miss
your touch
lost among the changes

And into the winter
when the leaves curl up and dry
drop along the pavements where feet kick them
up into the air

That is us

Those spiralling leaves
Turning and falling
their figures a blur
Blurred out of shape
Colours vivid and fading
their edges the cracks of something
so close to breaking

And all it takes
one touch
one lip remembered
one hand
to grip
to hold
to anchor
or to lose

About the Author

Red Ogre Review’s social media manager, Kate Potter recently graduated with Master’s in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.