When I hear a sound,

I look around frantically,

Hoping to reconnect an image or scene,

Hoping to see something… anything.

Instinct wins over obstinance and consciousness.

Response without analysis or decision  

And when emptiness ensues as nothing correlates

I remember…

Frustrations, disappointment, disbelief

Stifles and conceals the light

Moments, laughs, embarrassment…

Warmth dissipates, longing dissolves, nostalgia disintegrates.

The progression, too quick.

I wonder if it is the very reason

That this friendship, so strong, so comfortable

Was fleeting.

And the trappings left beckon for my attention

At every sound, every moment, every silhouette

Haunting my mind and vision in the periphery.

I put an end, the end, to it.

But life persists even in tough conditions.

Shadows flicker and remain.

Thoughts pass and linger.

And I move but still, I stay.