Absence has seven letters
As does your name
I should have seen the glaring neon warning in this
But I was too busy counting the seven scars that you claimed defined you
Giving a heroic story to each
Slowly encoding your biography into my blood
I met you on the seventh of July
A glowering shadow across the bonfire
A smile filled with seven fake teeth
Hands that would become all too familiar in the months preceding

It took me seven days to memorize the seven numbers connecting you to me
One number a day for a whole week
Seven numbers that I cannot will myself to forget
I find my fingers attracted to each in succession
Only to hang up when I hear your raspy hello in the early hours of the morning

There are seven wonders of the world
I claim to have seen each
As I scour over your body
Finding the Taj Mahal carefully constructed of your hip bones
Balancing on the Great Wall of your fifth rib
Touring the marbled landscape of the Coliseum between your shoulder blades
Your smile
Hands
Nose
Voice
But there are also seven deadly sins
Lying tongues and tears shed