LONGINGS by MICHAEL MINASSIAN

The woman at the next 

booth at the diner

called me by my name—

you don’t recognize me,

do you? she said, 

through pursed lips.

I tried to remember 

if we had ever met,

but drew a blank.

You once wrote a poem

for me after we spent

the night together, 

she reminded me:

You had twelve pet names for my vagina

You insisted I bring along a friend

You lectured me on proper table manners

You had my name tattooed on your wrist

You said I was your muse

Even though I knew

I had never been tattooed,

I checked my wrist:

there was nothing there.

Not until later did I realize

she was speaking in metaphors.

The next day, I returned

to the diner;

she was sitting 

in the same booth—

longing takes many forms,

I whispered to her,

tracing the outline of her name

on my bare arm. 

MICHAEL MINASSIAN is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist and photography: Around the Bend. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing are all available on Amazon. A new chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, has just been released. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com

Forgotten by Skaja Evens

A blip on a screen.
Summary of your presence,
of your time, with me.

Cause in the grand scheme,
you mattered for a minute,
then faded away.

Skaja Evens is a writer and artist living in Southeast Virginia. She runs It Takes All Kinds, a litzine published by Mōtus Audāx Press. She’s been published with Spillwords Press, The Dope Fiend Daily, The Rye Whiskey Review, and The Crossroads Lit Magazine. She can often be found listening to music, considering the impossible, and enjoying her cats’ antics.