by Jackie Chou

His name 
filled the lined pages 

Him capitalized
instead of You

The boy with smoky eyes
and skin like clay

The one I saw 
through the peephole 

The one 
with the empty hands

I wept for those eyes 
that didn't see me

I wept for those hands 
that didn't hold mine

I should have sought 
Your eyes instead 

I should have sought 
Your hands instead 

Your eyes will never
be ashamed of me

Your hands will never
let me fall

It is You Lord
for whom my tears 
shall flow

---

Jackie Chou is a writer from Southern California who has two collections of poetry, The Sorceress and Finding My Heart in Love and Loss, published by cyberwit. Her poem “Formosa” was a finalist in the Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize. She has recent work in The Ekphrastic Review, Chainmail Poetry, Collaborature, Fevers of the Mind Poetry and Art, and Synchronised Chaos.