i didn’t realize leaving came like this
little chunks dropping away

a puzzle dismantled
piece by piece

over time
years, months, weeks, days, minutes, seconds

calendars turning
clocks ticking
you leaving

slowly, imperceptible at first
a trickle at Itasca
the flow of Mississippi
now the roar of ocean

items leave one by one
desk bares itself
start remains

your face blank
your eyes unrevealing

you are gone

soon
the bed undented
the clothes hung no more
the footsteps now as wishes
the door closed
perhaps a scrap of paper left

When did you begin to leave?

somewhere in my mind I knew
somewhere in my ear I heard

somewhere in my heart I felt
somewhere I began to cling
to your fading apparition
the beginning of the end

but why i cannot know
i cannot fathom
i cannot grasp

you are gone.

9/26/95