Gone

Gone

The chair sits empty

the clock ticks on

shadows stretch across the floor

I reach for what is not there

Your laughter lingers

like smoke in a doorway

I trace the air with my hands

but nothing holds

Windows gape at the sky

birds pass without pause

I call your name

and only silence answers

The room remembers

every step you made

every word left behind

but you are gone

And I am here

counting echoes

holding nothing

but the weight of absence

The walls know your shape

in the spaces between furniture

I press my palms to the cold plaster

and hope it will tell me something

The wind slips through cracks

carrying a memory of your touch

I close my eyes

but it is only air

Night falls heavy

the world moves on

I am left with the quiet

and the echo of gone