ONE NIGHT AT A TIME

You kept the outcome at a distance

with your smile, but the end

was scripted in advance.

Each time

our eyes locked, the tears

came.

I had to turn away.

You held my hand—the left.

Each night in what passes

now for sleep, I wake

to learn how absence crucifies.

Nothing compares with it.

What can I do to give

this grief an ounce of dignity?

Only the ache of not having

you beside me brings you

back and keeps you close.

That’s all that saves me.

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