Psalm of the Absent Man
In this house of cold rooms, winter light
plays on the floors and carpets, casts
a subdued brightness on the empty walls.
The people who lived here now are gone -
death is absolute and the trees outside lean
into a harsh breeze. What remains is dirt.
A few leaves huddled in corner pockets.
Even new grass succumbs to January’s early
frost - this sheet of formed icicles. A man
walks his dog down the gravel path.
His loneliness follows him like a shadow.
Every day he walks by and ponders who
lived here, in this two story house.
Again, what and who remains when memory
falters like this, who benefits? Go, walk on.
Page(s) 180
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