Monday, September 2, 2024

invisible man June 14, 2012

 


 I stare at the empty seat across the table

 where she sits on Tuesdays, 

relieved and yet also disappointed,

 the vacant space like the space 

left from an extracted tooth,

 my tongue keeps exploring, 

feeling at a loss 

even though it gave me great pain

 while still there.

This is not a vacancy

 I can easily fill,

 dreading the confrontation it brings

 when she again takes her place at the table,

I know the looks I will receive or worse,

 the lack of them,

 as if my seat is empty,

 even though I am seated in it, 

an invisible man to her,

worthless in her eyes,

 a tragic mistake we both made,

 only I am the one face of regret,

 the one who has the most to lose,

 missing and yet scared 

of missing her too much, 

and like a missing limb, 

I can’t help seeing her even

 when she’s not there.


email to Al Sullivan

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