I'm her old and familiar friend
yet she leaves when I approach. 
She passes her key to me
as we cross paths.
I watch as she slowly floats away...
drifting toward that safe place
she visits from time to time...

I'll be back' she whispers...
'its only for a while'.
 
Left to find some semblance of order
in what she's left behind... I wait. .
I must stay behind and wallow
in her disconnected thoughts and
unidentified disappointments...
nurture her feelings of sadness and loss.
 
Struggling to escape the glaring light
placed upon me
I find the familiar wall of despair-filled darkness...
lock the door to well-meaning intruders.
Now I will sleep and wait.

The shadow of her return hovers.
Will she appear with a vengeance
to banish me...to destroy me?
Or simply take back  her key...
wait for my next visit
and continue to
tolerate her old familiar friend.