new loneliness

there is just one apple on the tree

it isn't like i'd hoped it'd be

yesterday when there was still you

i looked, and i swear that i saw two

maybe a wandering white tail deer

came in the night to make it even more clear

and left me just one, a spartan no less

to remind me of my new loneliness

now there is just one oar leaning against the wall

what of our plans for paddles in the fall

with the reeds grown high in a winding maze

we were to follow old waterways

maybe a hovering dragonfly

will rest on a cattail and wonder why

there is no clamouring at the shore

of two in a canoe with each an oar

now there is just one pillow on the bed

where a solitary someone lays her head

a stack of books meant to be read aloud

closed and dusty awaiting a crowd

maybe a spider in a high corner

keeps his tiny eye on the still mourner

and waits for the other to slip under the cover

and relight the dark candle lit between lovers

and replay the melody made by two lovers