The Night You Disappeared

The Night You Disappeared

The screen door

slammed shut

a rifle crack of sound

that split the air…creating

a silence so profound

it was as if the earth

and all she carries

upon her face

had together of

one accord…

stopped breathing

And then the crickets

begin again and a

man on the front and one

on the rear carries you

across the porch

their breath coming hard

as they lift you up

over the step

and you’re so beautiful

eyes closed peacefully

hair a shining black halo

framing your silent face

stark against the white

of stretcher sheets

I sit up high in my

crow’s nest of a

strange man’s arms

peering over his shoulder

heady with the scent

of his aftershave

Old Spice, I think…

not really knowing

what the tableau

before me means

as you disappeared

into the gaping maw

of a white, red bubble

topped vehicle that

flashed and screamed you

away from me / from us

into the void of night

I didn’t know then

the hurt that you carried

so deep that it was ground

into the DNA of your

bones, your blood and

your brain…all tiny

silvery razorblades of

pain that cut away your

smile a little more

bit by bit until your teeth

no longer saw the

light of day

I didn’t understand an agony

that could make you

want to disappear…forever

For a long time about

that night I didn’t remember

the ceremony of your

preparations to leave us

how you bathed us and

dressed us all up

in our Sunday best

my two brothers and I

how you sat us upon

the sofa all in a row

so shiny and perfect

while you took yourself

in your finest raiment

behind the bathroom door

where with the click of a lock

you embarked upon

your journey…no luggage

needed as you swallowed

your one way ticket

You came back one day

but not really…the absence

it was there…in your eyes

for a very long time

I missed you so much

R.M. Romo June 2013 ©