Absolute Validation by A.J. Huffman

is the lack of feeling
as you stare at your ex
attempting to return
on hands and knees
begging forgiveness,
the absence of desire
to welcome his sniveling
form, however buff
it may still be, the indifference
as the flash-bulb memories
of the reasons for his dismissal
flare in your mind—
ghosts of another life’s darkness,
the ease with which you turn
and walk away without interest
in looking behind you.

A.J. Huffman has published thirteen full-length poetry collections, fourteen solo poetry chapbooks and one joint poetry chapbook through various small presses.  Her most recent releases, The Pyre On Which Tomorrow Burns (Scars Publications), Degeneration (Pink Girl Ink), A Bizarre Burning of Bees (Transcendent Zero Press), and Familiar Illusions (Flutter Press) are now available from their respective publishers.  She is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a two-time Best of Net nominee, and has published over 2600 poems in various national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, The Bookends Review, Bone Orchard, Corvus Review, EgoPHobia, and Kritya.  She is the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.