ol6

we were never together, but we had each other, the way one has a tattoo; under the skin, painful at the outset, painful to remove, but satisfying, cool, complementary, could be permanent. all of a sudden he was always around, his boxers were in my apartment, he was asking me about lunch, inviting people over, calling me nicknames. then he was gone before he'd left.

ol3

first time. in december, i left my lover in canada and flew to a sunny place for the winter. for the six years preceding, we hadn't been apart for more than a month or two at a time, and what is 'apart' in an era with smartphones and wifi? we hadn't ever actually truly been …