post mortem | Hannah Norris

heartbreak is its own kind of grief/but there is no funeral or coming together/to celebrate the life/ it is a coming apart/an untethering of bodies and lives and plans/it's trying to move on while the not deceased/still shows up in unexpected ways./it's an "i need space"/an "i love you but i can't see a future with you anymore”/it's me begging you to give me another chance/and you looking at me pitifully/it's you kissing me, twice/when i'm moving my things out as a goodbye/that i interpret as a see you soon/it's me whispering in your ear/that i still believe in us/and you replying that you believe in me/it's me almost crashing my car on I-5/because i was crying so hard/it's leaving your profile on my HBO account/because i just can't bring myself to delete it/it's me throwing up at the idea/of another woman being in our your bed/it's just me alone/trying to put myself back together again.

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Hannah Norris is a Seattle-ite whose work has previously appeared in Words Dance (now defunct), water soup press, and Ghost City Review. When not writing, she can be found playing Stardew Valley for the umpteenth time. You can find her on Twitter @hlnorri or Blue Sky @hlnorri.bsky.social shouting into the void.