Diana Darby ** "I V" ** Intravenous

Black Shadow

It is not any easier now
than it was five months ago.
In fact, it’s harder now.
The permanency of it
is more real.
The forever absence of him.
Walking down my hall.
Sneaking into my bed.
Running after ball and squirrel and car.
His eyes
always so perfectly brown
staring me down
demanding a walk,
demanding a meal,
humping his bed
twice a day.
His face on my sheets
staring up at me
every morning by seven a.m.
insistent that I get up
and feel the sun.
His love of life.
the laughter he brought into mine.
The park
and the trees
and the street where I live
are full of him.
Everywhere I look
he is there
but there is nothing to hold on to.
My sadness deeper now
than ever before.
The loss of him
a black shadow that never leaves my side.