Do you remember - Emily Larkin

When you loved me the most?

You told me so

When the only moments we were alive

Were with each other.

Do you remember

Out on the rocky edge

Jagged as a heartbeat

The peril of it all

Waiting for sky or sea to swallow us whole

Unless you caught me?

Do you remember Trying to catch time in our fists Only for the clock’s hands to move Fluid as a lie?

Do you remember Meeting my parents at the beach How nervous you were. My dad’s voice a rumble Salt on the wind.

What about when we didn’t care About lightning or tempests or Where we were going Only who with.

What about when we would Swap hoodies Wear each other’s clothes Warm my hands in your pockets.

Do you recall the rain on your face When you walked me home Or my head buried in your chest? How we would tell each other The words that can only be said In the silence between dawn and dreaming.

Do you remember the vastness and beautiful terror Of it all When we were forever? When my hand was empty If not holding yours. Do you remember The sheer drop beneath us And pounding waves. Slipping And the sea rising.

Do you remember

What washed away forever

And why?

Do you?

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Emily Larkin is an Australian author who holds a Doctor of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) from the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is the author of The Whirlpool, a picture book illustrated by Helene Magisson and published by Wombat Books, and her short fiction and poetry has featured in international literary journals. Emily enjoys sharing her love of literature and writing by holding writing workshops, and has worked as a Sessional Tutor at the University of Queensland, the Queensland University of Technology International College, and the University of the Sunshine Coast. Emily’s debut YA novel will be published by Rhiza Edge in 2021. To follow Emily, visit https://www.facebook.com/ehlarkinauthor/.