‘I’ve been studying the difference between solitude and loneliness. Telling the story of my life to the clean white towels, taken warm from the dyer and held to my chest, a sad substitute for a body pulled in close,’

“I miss most even now his hands, the expressive grace and heft of them. The heat of his hands on my skin, the wrap of his arms, two becoming one. I carry the stack of towels upstairs, carefully cradling them so as not to let them tumble. Save one, still damp, the top one I had pressed against my face, which needs more time for drying,’