Today You Know It's Too Long Without Them Poem by Patricia Ryan

TODAY YOU KNOW IT'S TOO LONG WITHOUT THEM

You've waited before.
Held your breath.
For Christmas.
For summer.
Til the car pulled up.
It was reasonable.
You knew how.
It always came true
sooner or later.
But today
you know something
is wrong, the wait is
too long today
it hits you like
the puzzled child
who has to give
up, stop sitting
on the curb looking
down the street, who gets
called in for dinner because
now it's too late.
Today you get the full
impact: the dead
don't show up no
matter how many
years you think are
too many no matter
they are absent
beyond patience
they are not coming.
Today you know the car
will never pull up to
the curb
Christmas will
always arrive
empty
and summer will
forever be
cold.
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-Patricia Ryan 12/2/13