The Absence of a Loved One

Your absence takes hold of me like an

Innnnn-
hale crushing
empty breath of
December so
deeply cold
In bones brittle,
stinging
icicle eyelashes
all night.

There is no comfort in the goose down
empty bed.

whipped arm,
desperate grasping,
no waking for the sleeping soundly

When I miss you, I fall out of bed
and I don’t know if I am dreaming.