Your absence is noted
All the colours were the same,
Tinged with disbelief.
Inside it was clinical –
Curtain drawn around a bed,
And all was still and neat.
Outside, the sun shone as usual;
Another bright sunny day
Towards the end
Of a fabulous summer –
The warmth belying the mood.
Nothing was real
Until I touched the cold
Hard white marble of your face
Then the whole universe shifted.
Outside the window
It was now bleary.
A man walked his dog.
A woman entered the phone box.
An old man with a stick,
Bent and stiff,
Walked slowly past,
Carrying a bag of shopping.
How could it possibly
Be so ordinary?
Opher 13.5.2016