Susan

The last time I saw you,  
Spring was in the air;  
We said our goodbyes in arrogant faith  
That tomorrow would be as yesterday was.  
How were we to know?  
 
As the days stretched into weeks  
and weeks grew into months,  
the walls that made your home,  
the doors meant to keep you safe,  
turned in form, if not in name,  
into a lonely prison cell.  
 
The last time I saw you,  
I see how I took for granted  
(Oh how I took for granted!)  
the time we spent & laughs we shared,  
the comfortable silence that needed no words.  
But how was I to know…  
 
Only mere days before Yuletide bells  
called all to Merry Christmas cheer,  
We would gather together instead  
to bury the shell you once gave life —  
by your happy smile, the ornery twinkle in your eyes,  
a loving heart that deserved so much more  
than it found in a world as imperfect  
as the love we gave you in return.  
 
For each person we love  
and who then departs,  
there’s another hole left  
in our lives and our hearts;  
How many holes
will it take until  
we find there’s no life  
and no heart left to feel?