Vanished

How long does it

take to realize

that something

is missing;

when someone

in presence

has vanished

never to return?

The echoes of

their company

are such a comfort

like in days gone by.

But until ghosts of illusion,

and mists of daydream

rest their ageless heads,

it is hard to learn that memories

can pulse more urgently

than the very heart-waves of love.

Still, the intense volume

of their sounds does not

turn them into truths,

but rather, fantastically

exaggerated works of art.

Jennifer Burnside