i sit in the same place as i did last year
desk worn smooth beneath my hand
the sunlight spills through the glass window
just like it always has

here i listen to a new voice speak
a different cadence and a different tone
but i am not listening to the lecture of the teacher
in this place i feel all alone

i look up from my bleeding cuticles
mind refocusing on the words
and for a single aching second
i see it, there you are

your dark red hair catches in the light
the way it always has when you turn to write
laughter just behind your lips
diamond iris sparking like struck flint

standing in front of the board, it is you—
until it isn’t

faster than it came, the illusion shatters
pain sharp as chalk dust in my throat
my heart stumbles like it forgot how to move forward
without you leading it homeward

i miss you more than words can hold
more than ink can write
more than silence can carry

and yet i sit in this room with this new voice
her new name
pretending not to see your ghost
in every empty space