At the bottom of

the hole you left

I found the negative

of the photo never taken

in the digital age of cameras.

I couldn’t quite make you out

but in the red twilight

of the lab,

my finger trailing gently

in the still waters

that pull people out of dreaming paper,

I felt something unspeakable emerge,

perhaps most akin, if anything,

to sunshine.

It must have been you—

a remnant left

languidly developing

days after you’d gone.

Thank you.

Now I think I see

what all the tearful laughter

was about