SANS TOI

It’s been a long weekend
Without you.
Time has telescoped.
Every second has flexed its muscles
Intimidating me with its presence.

Still, you’re home this afternoon.
I’ve got to make the empty bed,
Hoover the food-stained rugs,
Wash the dirty dishes
And generally tidy up.
And just for once, just this once
It will be truly a labor of love.

Everyone, everything was talking about love
One day, it just had to happen to me
 
I waited, I expected you
I hoped, I looked for you
 
But good heavens, you existed
You were the adventure, and now I understand
 
Without you, what is being free good for?
Without you, tell me, why do we need to live?

Together we have
salted sweet hours, made the years rewind,
eaten all the ripened heart of life,
and made a luscious pickle of the rind.

(thanks to Simon R. Gladdish, Anne Grégory and Isak Dinesen)