Last night the silence crashed like cymbals
against my eardrums
Every creak became your footstep
and all the shadows took on your form,
as if to taunt me
The sound of your leaving echoed down the hallway,
It seeped through all the walls of the house
so that I could not escape it,
no matter how I tried
It penetrated my skin,
Tracked me down like a frightened animal
It permeated my bones and made them ache
Last night I listened to the silence
and wrapped my arms around the memory of you
as if, by squeezing hard enough,
I could milk your essence out of the darkness
I buried my face in a blanket
and drank in the smell of you,
swallowed it down, down, until it splashed and gurgled
deep in my stomach
and ran like a warm spring into my veins
Last night I listened to the sound of your absence
and felt the words of your goodbye
still heavy in the air,
like the lingering scent of your cologne