Elusive, but far from intrusive, if
You asked me to describe him.
When you had his attention,
You were his sole focus.
“Attention must be & was being paid,”
Mr. Miller’s words immortal,
Arthur’s epitaph for Willie,
Little Man Willie Loman,
Wee Willie, Willie Loman,
The punch line you expected:
“Exact, demanding & deserved.”
But, ah . . .
Elusive flake flits on,
Leaving you speechless,
Verklempt, inhabiting a
Dry and drooping,
Dark and dreary
State of ****** . . .
(If you dig, my Edgar.)
In short, he is sorely missed.

Marvin Gaye - I'll Be Doggone Lyrics | MetroLyrics
www.metrolyrics.com/ill-be-doggone-lyrics-marvin-gaye.html MetroLyrics/ Blowing my money all over this town. Then I wouldn't be doggone. Hey, hey, I'd be long gone. Then I wouldn't be doggone. I'd be long gone. Now hey, hey, hey . . .  (Thank you, Louie--my agent who sells ad space in my poems. The poet, for once, rejecting the die in the gutter, art for art’s sake career track, making poetry pay for a change.)

Simply put:
He’s no longer here or there,
“He wouldn’t be gone long.
He’d be long gone.”
Not just emptiness.
Absence.