San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly

Karineh Mahdessian

as you squeezed

you
into

me,

you left

thumbprints on my soul,
reminder that it had happened

even if yellowed by memory.

you were here.

inside.

witnessing the madness of me.

and when it became too much,
you simply turned your head,
closed your eyes,

and
commanded your feet to walk away,

leaving thumbprints

for the next lover
to follow.