It feels empty
in the place
where there should be
something.
Heart still beating,
mind still wondering,
soul still yearning,
hands still working,
feet still moving,
eyes still seeing,
mouth still sinning.
Everything is where
it should be,
but the absence
is inescapable.
You are with me,
my lover,
my partner,
my friend.
I’ve got time;
or, at least as much
as anyone else.
I’ve got money,
food on the table,
roof over my head,
and a bottle of whisky
for whenever I get to thinking.
Still there’s echoes
in the spaces
that used to be full.
There’s no wide open plains,
just buildings and cars
and people.
There’s no sunrise,
or sunset,
or sweat,
or blood,
or trial.
I’m alive,
but I’m feeling
like I’m missing something
vital to life.
Lost in this
convenient comfort
and complicit conflict
that dulls me,
until I’m not myself.
I’m missing something
that used to be
part of me;
something out there
to the West.
HG – 2021
