Gone

I must admit I thought you’d left.
Your name was gone from the news-
papers and the television
was blank and anxious and the many
screens had turned away; there was no activity in their brains.
The signs that came across
from the twitching of your eyelids
were no longer affecting mine. This is a terrible moment
of fear, you see.
When the things like this mean
the worst has happened,
and you think of things beyond: the
bats circling and you’re down there at the
door to the barn alone, a leaf in the grave,
the horses moving on their hooves
purple in the paddock, cold death rubbing
up against their rumps, locks grinning, police
sirens in the dark…
gold bones
under their feet got
verve and aggregate courage
I just can’t manage.