loss

it is in the long, hollow days,
brimming with absence,
that i miss your company the most.

free from the grasping reach
of obligation,
only to be thrust
into the cavernous jaws
of isolation.

i claw for any inkling of
your receding light,
without which i can
no longer fight
this darkness that engulfs me.

this taunting, twisted
déjà vu,
this familiar struggle
without familiar respite

your soothing voice,
your gentle caress,
your warm embrace -
so far from me now, but
so near to my heart.

to truly know the gift
that was your presence,
only now, when you
are no longer present -

-v