Dreams of Lives that Never Happened #2

Water nearly too hot for the skin to handle.

Reminiscent of a small apartment in Allentown where we spent many hours pressed together
breathing each other’s recycled air.

It is winter, as it is most of the time in this part of the world.
For now, the only sounds are our hearts and
our exploring hands beneath the sheets.
Sometimes, the snow battering against the window
sounds a lot like what we will try to say later.

Instead, the world turns, and
distance turns the language of touch into symbols we never send.

Ian Brunner is a fiction writer and poet from Buffalo, New York who is currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. His work has been featured in various journals and zines. Most recently in Riggwelter Press, Selcouth Station, Ghost City Press, and Dear Reader. He is the author of the chapbook, Ruminations (CWP 2017).