The Empty Line

I reached for the phone today.

Just a habit, I guess.

I saw something funny while driving the car.

I thought about you, no matter how far.

I pulled out the cell, I unlocked the screen.

The saddest damn movie that I’ve ever seen.

My thumb hovered over your name in the list.

A digital ghost of the person I missed.

I wanted to tell you. I wanted to share.

But then I remembered that you aren't there.

The sentence just died on the tip of my tongue.

A song that is finished before it is sung.

I walk through the house and I turn on the light.

But nothing can chase away the middle of the night.

I run the company.

But I have no company.

Just a one-sided conversation with a memory.

I have the space. I have the view.

But I don't have the voice that belongs to you.

I miss how you listened. I miss how you knew.

The secrets I only ever whispered to you.

Now I carry them heavy. I carry them deep.

While the rest of the world is fast asleep.

I talk to the ceiling. I talk to the air.

I talk to the shadow I see on the stair.

I’m shouting your name in a room with no door.

I don't want the peace and quiet anymore.

Just the tone.

No reply.

Swallowed whole.

Just... swallowed.

(Silence)