Defying the jarring body blows of blustery winds, each remembrance reveals itself. Having fought the tug of gravity as far as memory stretches, I’ve long been secured to the earth by these sepia-toned reminders of your love.

Our first date, my red skirt swirling around our legs as the band egged us on.

Your determined tongue stroking its way into my mouth, your palpable excitement settling me.

Your broad smile as you placed glittering gold on my trembling hand.

The two of us in our wedding finery, united in defiance of the painful isolation of this harsh, unforgiving world.

Over the years, you burrowed your way down through flesh and bone to the core of me. Sunk anchor, giving me weight. Making me whole.

Until I saw your male bodies tangled together on our rumpled sheets, your limbs like linked puzzle pieces. Designed solely to fit one another; no distance between you. I felt my lifeline become untethered, unmoored, with no belayer to catch me. No crevice remaining in which to shelter.

I squint into the sunshine as my feet meet the ledge. Unharnessed, I spread my arms to offer gravity its reward. Take one last breath. And step off…

© 2016 Mairead Devereux. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied or used in whole or part without written permission from the author.