The Absence that is You.

In the absence that is you

The clock ticks slowly.

My eyelids twitch

to the sound of the second hand

Until the spasms dull me to sleep.

I never needed you.

I never knew you

Before the linger of your gaze

Drew circles around each iris,

Until you were all I could see.

That’s when time hastened.

Every hour turned to minutes

And I begged for more,

For you to stay.

The pain bled when you’d leave

Until my legs turned numb.

So I would sit and wait

For the next day,

To see you again.

But those days are gone

And with it your smile.

The corners of your lips that reached for only me

Have given themselves to another.

I cannot compete.

Still, I wait on the clock.

As this brown hair turns gray,
Until the minute which carries your return.