The Decision

Timothy Liu
When I removed

the ring I had
been wearing for

a decade, a ghost

ring remained
underneath — the skin

slightly paler

where the gold
had been — my finger

cinched where it

had been constricted
as I prepared to

step into the night —

Timothy Liu is the author, most recently, of Down Low and Lowdown: Bedside Bottom-Feeder Blues. A reader of occult esoterica, he lives in the Hudson Valley and teaches at SUNY New Paltz and Vassar College.
Originally published:
July 1, 2009

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