[Simon Hunt]

Returns

Shall we reveal the gifts we never gave
or even bought? Me first. I want to show
you how the ribbon might have looked, the way
one present would have led to homely roads.
Then you can trace for me your empty stores
of festive memories and future bones.
It’s better like this, don’t you think? The more
we gave, the more we sacrificed alone.
I’ve never understood how to repay
the wealth that you bestowed on me, although
at times I’ve tried. What measure could explain
my gratitude for all you left ungiven,
or plumb the depths of the regret we’ve spun
at one another’s accidental bidding?