I woke up, only to claw back toward sleep,
but your smile had already slipped,
your face dissolved into the dark corner,
and the space where I wish you were,
hold only my gentle whisper to you.  

Outside, the drizzle writes a symphony,
breeze combing through the tress sent a shiver,
small cheek-spotted sparrows scatter upward,
each chirp, each wingbeat humming your name.

While everything around keeps going on,
I'm slowly learning to hold absence,
like a sparrow holds the wind,
not by grasping, but letting it pass through.

The sun descends on the horizon,
Flaming all the way to its death,
A far ways out in the ocean.

I shed a tear watching it fall,
Though, not for that great ball of fire,
Come tomorrow it will rise again.

The tears I shed are for you,
For my arms which will be empty tonight,
Always wishing you were here.

There is something
in the early morning air
that fills my lungs with
a familiar loneliness
as the dull pain
behind my eyes
makes the stars
look like tiny tears
as the moon shakes
the nightmares from
its restless mind
I close the book
on yesterday
I wrestle with
this pen and paper
as the background
radio preachers
love and forgiveness
there is a moment
when the eyes close
and the mind opens up
there is a moment when
I see her smile I almost  
feel her embrace
within a second
she is gone …
Clay.M