Long Gone, Not Gone – Olivia Haijoff

Long Gone, Not Gone - Olivia Haijoff

I walk in the gardens of my childhood.
Gossamer shadows pace the woods; husky voices echo in the blue jay’s rusty-swing call.
Long gone, not gone.

He holds out only his thumbs for me to grasp, to be lifted up and swung.
So proud of his strength, we were.
Long gone, not gone.

As the sun declines, I let my small self free fall inside of me, to be caught and cradled by my grown self.
Long gone, not gone.

Olivia Haijoff is a concert violinist who performs as a duo with her husband, Marc Ramirez (also a violinist). She also teaches students of all ages, currently ranging from nine- to seventy-nine-year-olds. She loves to take long walks in nature, especially where she can see fruits growing. She also enjoys swimming and cutting up her old clothes to make new ones.

As a poet, Olivia has been published in Light, The Lyric, Jersey Devil Press, The Poetry Quarterly and Penumbra, among others. Olivia is the 2020 Grand Choice Winner of the Laura Riding Jackson Poetry Competition. She was also guest poet at the Hylton Center for Performing Arts at George Mason University. At age nine, her short story was presented as a children’s ballet on the British television show FreeTime. Olivia is a Fulbright scholar.