I wrote a poem the day you left
because my heart was breaking and I could not speak
only hold you — let you hold me —
and weep

Gentlest man, so beset by monsters
whose selfless love comforts
with a compassing arm and nestled head

I wish you would stay
I wish you could stay

But the rituals pull hard, cruel
away from me
overwhelming you

There are traces of you here
that by their presence witness
the illness, the prison, the battle
that takes you from me as surely as the taxi
from which you wave

I sit alone as it rains
and miss you