What the Body Remembers
Original EveryPoem Studio house-voice poem.
My hands still set the table for two.
Not every night—just Thursdays,
when my hands forget
what my head decided months ago.
The body has a filing system
the mind knows nothing about:
the exact pressure of your thumb
on the small of my back,
catalogued somewhere between
breathing and blinking—
the involuntary things
I cannot seem to quit.
I passed your street last Tuesday.
My pulse picked up like a dog
catching a familiar scent—
stupid, loyal, sure
that any second now
the door will open.
The mind says: you are free.
The spine says: I was shaped by this.
The hands say: it is Thursday.
They set the extra plate.
112 words · 22 lines · Free Verse