Coulda-been-ku 20

20.

We met high above 

Chicago. Both in pain. But 

you shared your heartbreak-

-for a collection 

of moments my soul was nude.

You melted my ice.

© Nick Bantock

Coulda-been-ku 19

19. 

I was impulsive. 

One cannot force love to bloom

in smothered soils. 

Coulda-been ku 18

18. 

You were that summer’s 

northern lights. You cooked.Thank you—

for sharing the boat. 

Coulda-been-ku 17

17.

Lovely is not love

Friendly is not friendship. But 

through the ache: I learned.

Coulda-been-ku 16

16.

If you’re going to

rebound—don’t do it with your 

High school scene partner.

Coulda-been-ku 15

15. 

You were good to me

A diligent observer 

I hope you soften 

Coulda-been-ku 14

14.

Time stopped in the snow. 

Stay, oh beautiful boy from 

the long-ago bus.

Coulda-been-ku 13

13.

Breadcrumbs are savage. 

I am nobody’s ‘just in case.’

Hear this: Crumbs aren’t food.

holding magic by @m.lartigue

Coulda-been-ku 12

12.

We endured so much.

No one else could have done it.  

I loved you. I’m sorry. 

Coulda-been-ku 11

11. 

I should have loved you 

better. Not The One. 

But the best I knew. 

The hurt is nothing 

now—turned to gratitude and

sentiment. All one.

You get three stanzas.

For in the end, I’m proud of 

us. I’m proud of us.

Coulda-been-ku 10

10. 

You showed us how to 

love harder.  First rebellion.

The first, everything.

Coulda-been-ku 9

9.

While they got married,

You showed me I could, still, fly. 

I’ll never forget.

Coulda-been-ku 8

8.

Oh, the agony 

of being seen. Dark chapter. 

I loved you. Too much.

Coulda-been-ku 7

7.

I’ll never know why

your paint and my music can’t 

exist together. 

Time and space are cruel.

But you wrote that already. 

You call, and I sing.

Coulda-been-ku 6

6.

I, available,

Open. You at a crossroads. 

Story of my life. 

Coulda-been-ku 5

5. 

Mussels and moonlight: 

And poems, I remember— 

You, deeply, reading.

Coulda-been-ku 4

4. 

Not a Tsar. But you

showed me I could love again. 

Thank you. Love, Sunny.

Coulda-been-ku 3

3. 

Frangible and frail

You were lost. I, a child.

I don’t think of you. 

Coulda-been-ku 2

2.

Sweet youth. You taught me:

It does not have to mean the 

world, to mean a lot. 

Coulda-been-ku 1

1. 

What I remember 

Most? My hand-crafted letters

un-opened. Un-seen.