The Shine Journal

Closing Kiss

by

Elizabeth Hardman

The viewing window
reflects her face
petrified in an echo of agony.
Looking; looking.

Steel stretchered,he’s
sealed away from her touch;
shroud-swaddled, encased
against affection.

A relentless pulse
beats exquisite pain
from the miasma of
her memory.

Leave taken and completed
with a closing kiss.
Tongue-tied; tight lips,
worn thin by exposure to departure

Bio: ELIZABETH HARDMAN is a freelance tutor and mentor with a distance learning college in Cambridge, England; tutoring History and English. I also mentor students on a variety of courses.

Motivation: Inspiration for this piece: A phrase from a Maggie O’Farrell novel which included the words ‘closing kiss’.