Close To Comfort Poem by Susan Lacovara

In the absence of your slowed down steps
I keep to my daily walks
Knowing there will be no more talks
Between us
I can conjure up your silly laugh
Remembering how were two shipwrecked souls
Stranded on the same island






Invisible to the mainland

In called to tell you I was moving home
Your enthusiasm greeted me
The way two old friends
Unexpectedly find each other
In a crowd

We made pinky promises
To resurrect the past
And spend stolen time
Among the quiet of library books
Me reading the daily newspapers to you
In a hushed voice

But time had other plans
And before I could completely unpack
You were gone
Not to another town
Or a place of chosen reclusion
But GONE
Really gone

I wrote your eulogy
And delivered it with resolve
I would not let your goodness go unheralded
The pain of parting so intense
And I struggled to smile
In all the right places
But now I realize there are few right places
Where your memory does not tap me on the shoulder