this space will be filled.

when I am gone
the space I occupy
will be filled

by other women
by other poets
by other doers of things
that should
and should not
be done.

the world will not hesitate in its spinning.

for better
or for worse
or perhaps indifferently
this space will be filled.

but you -
your departure is an alien thing;

the holes you left inundate my world
making ragged
everything that ever held meaning for me.

your absence
has become the substance
of my existence.

so when I am gone
this space will be filled

but while I remain
the space here

is empty.

04/22/2006