Catherine Arra

First Love

for Kenny

 

Social media tells me you died

this morning—a fast, hard fight 

with pancreatic cancer.

 

Though we parted 50+ years ago,

the girl of me drifts with you

into stardust & memory.

 

Everything is borrowed, on lease or loan,

time, possessions, our bodies, deeds

destined for the shredding.

 

But the core essence when linked,

finds itself again & again

in all the versions of ourselves.

 

Rest in peace young lover, mine.

I have tended the seeds we planted 

into feasts & gardens immortal.

 

 

Catherine Arra lives in upstate New York with her partner, Alex Stolis and their dog, Daisy. Her newest full-length, Last Evening With All the Versions of Myself, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, September 2026. A collaborative Ekphrastic collection, The Razor Tip of an Arrowhead, with photographs by Alex Stolis and poems by Catherine was recently published by Dos Madre Press, May 2026. www.catherinearra.com