Steichen's roses
have faces in them
I've seen on a few
sad occasions.
Occasions for sadness
can be found
anywhere. Now I'm
aware in this
intuitive way of
the absence at my
back. How do I explain
it? I lie
in bed, alone. I
turn over to my side.
No hand moves between
my shoulders.
No lap molds itself
to the elbow
of my knees. The
smell of me,
me alone, rises
warmly from
under the covers.
I toss and turn.
I turn wearily towards
the lack of you,
hold still as if
to hold you still.
--Gabrielle Glancy
published in The
New Yorker