he stopped to rest along the creek and watched
the water slide by.  he closed his eyes and
the trickling sound soothed his ears.  breathing out,
he opened his eyes in time to see his
breath dissipate into the sharp air.  clean
winter sunlight touched his cheeks.  he noticed
a large stone at the edge of the water.
two smaller stones rested on top of it.
there was a space in-between the two stones.
he wondered if a third stone was once there.

and then he thought that the things we miss when
someone is gone, the things that come to us
in the quiet moments- the moments when
you watch the snow fall outside the window-
that is the essence of the one who has
left.  it is what they have left behind for
you to find, in the space between the stones.