-- An Accustomed Absence --

By John Herlihy

I had grown accustomed to your absence,

Time’s message we can never deny.

One year, two years, finally reluctance,

Your shadow in every light to espy.

The heart that has once grown lonely,

Now at odds with this solitary emotion.

Alone we do find ourselves, one and only,

Memory now serves as an act of devotion.

All the tears, all the lies, all the fragile hope,

Vanished into the past with a life now spent.

Comrades at arms wound as a braided rope,

That still brought comfort wherever I went.

In learning to accept the truth of your absence,

I ended up finding the reality of your presence.

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(c) John Herlihy 18 April 2019