Mari Ness

A Note Found Beneath A Moonstone

By the time you read this,
I will already be dead. Don't worry.
This is no litany of coulds or shoulds,
of might have beens, of woulds. Only to say —

                     that afterwards
I will reach out for your hand.
Please reach back.
I beg you.
                                                           Please.

Mari Ness has published fiction and poetry in numerous print and online publications, including Clarkesworld Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, Goblin Fruit, Ideomancer, and Stone Telling. You can follow her on Twitter @mari_ness, or through her blog at livejournal. She lives in central Florida.