“Wedding Rings and Sourdough,” a Poem by Emily Hyland

“Wedding Rings and Sourdough”

do not go together, no.

We walk to the restaurant, then he slips his ring off to work with his hands—
mixing dampened flour he’ll later shape and leave to proof

and he can’t risk wearing it then either—it might come off
and bake into a boule, and some diner might choke

so he keeps it off in prep and off in service, too. My fingers notice

it doesn’t go back on when I take his hand on the late walk home—
soon it just lives on the nightstand, a reminder: absence in proximity

how we each begin rolling toward our edge—the bedding separates
and holds us, both: he tangled in the sheet with his toes out

and I, warm in the comforter.

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Divorced Business Partners: A Love Story by Emily Hyland is available via Howling Bird Press.