Your Absence

I realize your brief absence
From home to visit with your friend
Makes me a frozen dead iceberg
And I shudder to imagine that one day,
I must, with no excuse, let you go!

Your going away
Even for a brief moment
Makes that lively home
Into a funeral parlour,
An empty house
With dead, lifeless furniture,
Along with stuffed silent dog,
Dead, motionless picture,
The painted paper flag,
And the other unresponsive creature

All these, in full, come back to life
Only when you return with your commanding
Voice that gives meaning and cheer
Transforming the empty house
Into a lovely home, making
The stuffed dog to bark and wag her tail,
While the furniture wails and groans
As you hurt and throw down your weight
And the picture begins to move
When the flag leaps to life

I realize your brief absence
From home to visit with your friend
Makes me a frozen dead iceberg
And I shudder to imagine that one day,
I must, with no excuse, let you go!

Henry Victor 01.01.2002