Exquisite lyric is how I would best describe the language of absence
Not exquisite as in exquisite
But exquisite as in unbearable
Unbearable as a house filled with smoke
The way it assaults the eyes, the throat
The way it enters the body through the nostrils
An unwelcome guest
As unwelcome as the loss before and after it comes
Like smoke, absence irritates
Like absence, smoke smothers
And yet most of my life spent alone
In that house of smoke, in that house that is not a house
In that house which is my body
Choking on the you I could never touch
YOU ARE READING
THE TWENTY SECOND YEAR
PoetryAt birth, we are all sentenced to life- to live. Highest Rankings: #4 in poembook #4 in poemcollection © z. t. corley, 2024
