October 2024

continue the sentence, “we could almost touch”

“six feet away”

Selvi Radia - aged 13

Los Angeles, California

we could almost touch

but oceans and 

rivers and

valleys and

mountains forced their way

between us, we 

could 

almost 

touch

i could almost feel your

breath hanging by my face

i could almost feel your smile

grabbing my cheeks and pulling them into 

a toothy grin

i could almost hear your laugh echoing 

in my ears, coursing through my eardrums

we could almost touch

we could almost share

a soft embrace

a warm hug

we could almost forget about the world

and the pain 

and the death

and focus on the 

one touch, 

one stroke is

all i want

we could almost touch

but we didn’t. 

instead, 

replacing your smile lines, 

the map to your joy

i had spent so much time memorizing,

was a thin blue cloth tied to your ears

i couldn’t see you smile anymore

i couldn’t hold your hand

we are six feet apart

and we can

almost touch