Absence (for Barry)

In your silence
is the wonder
the ache, the cold
Coming back
with a vengeance
Like the split splatter
of rain it comes
ripping the knots
untying the whole
breaking pieces
into voids


In your silence
is the hate
the chaos, the dark
engulfing
in a rampage
Like the whip whap
of crickets
deafening
losing the sacred
breaking the night
into years

I lay myself
spread-eagled
basking
in the memory
of your lightness
waiting for the last
whip, astride
in the shadow
of your face

There is complete truth in nothing.