THE DAMP KISSES WE WILL NOT HAVE

haunt like clothes
for a dead baby.
We won’t move
from bed to tub
to bed, won’t
leave prints on
the Chinese tile
floor. I won’t
wear the violet I
bought for you.
I don’t cry, but if
I did, my eyes
would haunt you,
swollen as a
heart turned in
side out

by Lyn Lifshin