GHOSTED

by Ellen Pepper

Well, I guess you're gone now.
No way to know,
 when there's been no word,
other than:
the closet door left open,
the empty hangers,
your guitar collection - missing.

No note on the counter,
a used cup in the sink.
The aching silence of
an abandoned home.

Sometimes people die without notice.
We get accustomed to losing them that way.
It happens, we're told.
Time eases the pain, we're told.
It was for the best, they say.

But when they yet live
and leave without a sound...
the pain never resolves into acceptance.
The living ghost cannot be buried
 and forgotten.

 © Ellen Pepper 2022