Author Feature: Niamh Burns's "We Stand Apart"

We stand apart
because/when we look into heaven we don’t see God with his glass eye swivelling/ we see each other/
disjointed trying to get out
because/if we look too closely we’ll taste blood
because/the last time you took me in your arms i shook so hard i thought i’d fall apart and i did/ i came
undone/ jsut liek tihis.
because/ if i hadn’t known the way down i never would have let go but i know losing you so well i’ve
made an artform of it
because/ my flesh tastes like war/and i know your absence so well it wears your face and i’ve named it
because/ it takes loving someone to know/ that the body is a barrier and there’s only so much you can
do with language
because/when we stand apart there’s always a lesson in between but we never stop long enough for it to
teach us