hey, you - a voicemail i don't send by Ashley Elizabeth

i wrote you the book i always told you i would write

about you

i know it is different than you expect

i know we are different than we expected

you, a girl dad and a father

to a boy named Ashton (i mean could ya get any closer to my name) and i

break in the way i see these pictures

but i can’t stop myself from watching like

the way i can’t stop myself from wanting

the way you held me that day

can’t help the way i check your instagram for updates

because your kids are both so damn cute (& i still care)

in a dream i hug you then walk past

not looking back; try to forget this upon waking

in a dream, i love you

in a dream, we fly the freak flag

like we did in real life

on a daybed or whiskey leather couch in the past

in a dream, you are not tied down

& neither am i.

in a dream, we talk about stars

and which one we hope to return as

always ones that seem nearby

but end up light years away.

Someone has been private calling me

& each time, i hope it is you.

---

Ashley Elizabeth is a writing consultant, teacher, and poet. Her works have appeared in SWWIM, The Hellebore, and Lucky Jefferson, among others. Her chapbook, you were supposed to be a friend, is available from Nightingale & Sparrow. Ashley lives in Baltimore, MD with her partner and their cat. Twitter: @ae_thepoet