Amelia Carter (TG) Poetry

Amelia Carter

#MeToo

i’m sorry that you’ll have to be so gingerly in touching me

because he came before and touched me there

and there and there too // he came and he took everything

except for the word “there” a word torn between

where I want to go and where you cannot touch

not yet not now maybe not ever //

but i have healed just a little bit in the six years since

and i realize he left me my feet

maybe because he saw how they froze my whole body

and left one last bit of hurt behind ///

nobody cares about the feet not really since they lack the value

of a thigh or a breast // and now mine are just jewelry

behind a case locked away after he broke in //

now you can only look and long for them

at arm’s reach // if i could give them up to you i would

but i’m afraid of flinching at your touch and you hating me

for a pre-programmed response // a rogue line of code //

of saying the wrong thing when my lips are closed ///

I would not blame you if you slipped out the door

while i lied alone half-naked in my half-empty bed

because i am damaged goods // the broken egg in the dozen //

but i cannot bear to be alone anymore

not when i have held you at arm’s reach // for so long

I miss you now more than ever, I think,

because I have to stay away--the thought

of us apart so long makes my heart sink

like anchors through the sea. I know there’s not much I can do, and I don’t dare push, but

I ache to just be next to you, these days.

I ache for cooking dinner out of what

we bought that day, for finding out new ways

to spend a lazy Sunday, for one more

touch from your fingertips. I can’t seem to remember how they feel on my skin or

when I felt them last. God, how I miss you.

Some day, if the world manages to mend,

then I’ll stay by your side until the end.

Poet Biography

Amelia Carter is a recent college graduate who makes time for writing poetry whenever she can. This is her first publication.