The Absence

they used to circle in her mind,
as automatically as the blood in her veins.
without a conscious thought, she
knew where they were, how they were.
she was thus able to attend to visiting the neighbor
to pick up her Christmas cactus that
is blooming now under their care.
that space that used to be filled seems
empty now, and worries wander in and
out as ghosts drift in and out of old
houses.