Love Poem: In Your Absence
Susan Szoke Avatar
Written by: Susan Szoke

In Your Absence

my lips brush your fingertips
long after your departure
your place next to me
awaits my embrace
as I bask in your aura
scooting closer to make contact
startling a blackbird at the window

tracing you onto a foggy pane of glass
I submerge myself in your image
placing a kiss on your pert nose
breathing your warm, sensual gardenia scent
    laced throughout your ivory damask sweater
    cradled in my arm as if a newborn

the dark bird, steward of my recollections, returns
?memories surge, spreading emotive warmth
    from my core outward
I tighten my hold on your garment, pressing
      my cheek against the creamy soft fibers
snuggling with your fragrance infused shadow
wanting you to brush away wet trails on my cheeks

tomorrow unveils a new day
its skin bursting with possibilities
such as the blackbird returning
?beak filled with nesting materials
hope arrives with the dawn
even as gloom flees my arms