Endings are what give stories meaning.
—Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea
If the ending
is what gives
a story meaning,
then may we
never learn what
this story means.
I don’t want
to reach anything
like a vague
ever after. Here,
take what’s left
of my blank—
please feel free
to lose our
table of contents,
rearrange our index,
renumber our pages,
revise the tension,
and if we
near a denouement,
then my dear
let’s have stacks
of pink erasers
on hand, ready
to sacrifice any
resolution that might
be goodbye—know
I would rather
struggle with you
in the messy
middle than ever
arrive at the
end.