Rhythm of Absence

In and out
Forward and back
like waves on a grainy seashore
Silvered by the beams
of the wide, greedy moon
toying with her flexible lover
Pushing and pulling
in ancient cyclical time

Left and right
Up and down
You tug at the edges of my mind
In similar regular motion
Intense and gentle
Yet only half serious
you ply my malleable will
into acceptance
then quickly pull away
A clean, premature click
that leaves me unfulfilled
Yet unable to shake my desire

These ghost-like appearances,
phantom interventions
chill and haunt me-
your ethereal presence
materialises only in your absences
here, then not
next to me, then suddenly far away,
like prairie grasses
rippling and swaying
in the playful caresses
of a mischievous breeze
then left in motionless expectation,
waiting for the next breath
to set them back asway

But the pattern has become familiar
and loneliness, a pet vice
So that even were I to break free
from this rhythmic circle,
my life would lie limp
and lifeless
Dull and still like a moss green pond
whose surface only ripples
with the fleeting assaults of passing clouds

And so I live
from absence to presence
to disappearance renewed
Content to move along with the tide
Feeling no remorse
And no resentment
Just going with the flow
At one
With the rhythm of your absence.