When I’m Gone
by Odin Roark

Will you get to know me
When I’m gone

After endings evolve into
New beginnings
When questions cease to arise?

What is it about another’s presence
That so often dissuades inquiry?

What is it about knowing someone
Up to a point that signifies
Satisfies
Nullifies
And indemnifies against loss?

Is knowing someone
Dependent on personal experience
Or can a well-defined shadow
Unseable in the sometime harshness of light
Remain spirited beyond yesterday?

Perhaps
You’ll scour the dim attic sanctum
Discover dusty boxes
Sealed up retrospect
Where passion’s shadowlight still ablaze
Has remained unread for so long

I hope you’ll get to know me
When I’m gone
For absence is but a convenience
Available to those seeking forgetfulness