I expected more noise
From the stark, white walls of the new apartment
Perhaps a muffled clink of Chardonnay glass
Or a rattle from the pictures of us on holiday
That one time we took the time
(Before you engaged yourself to video games)
Now labeled and packed away.
I had hoped the silence wouldn’t follow me
Into this new place without you
Where even the conversations in my head are exhausted,
Throbbing with the hum of your guitar strings
Recently cleaned after years of disuse.
The movers are gone now, and I stand here
A blank slate soaking in the faint sounds
Of life outside my door
And for a moment, the woods can wait
While my white walls demand a paint brush
And a bucket of black tulips
