Can You Feel It Poem by J.L. Nash

The absence of loneliness
Just when you are full of love for him or her
It strikes you like an empty bell
Where has that feeling gone to?

The one that led you to drink on your own late at night
And it was good red wine
The one that made you binge eat meal after meal after meal
Even when you were too full to move

Now the smells of both of you sit heavy upon your skin
Gone is the space that was your friend
And yet such a scent is both pleasing and comforting
No more empty nights lie ahead

Instead of a glass of red wine beside you or even some sweeter sour spirit
A cup of warm tea, fresh from the kitchen resides
And you can hear him or her sleeping in the room next door
When did you stop being so singular

The day was full of laughter and smiles
Little time for self-reflection or pity or loathing
Tomorrow will be the same jumble of happiness
And you will wake and sleep next’a face that cares for you.

Should you have difficulty at night
when every sense in your body tells you to sleep next to him or her
and relax into the holding and nuzzling,
dispel the guilt, walk outside and call into the night

O where is my empty soul?

Return to the arms of your lover
Knowing that this will surely pass
It will fade away and become a distant memory
As sure as love has become a blanket of reality