When the officers left, the house suddenly felt empty.
I had been trying to pull myself together enough to leave
But as the sun fully pulled away from the horizon,
Those uniformed men and women left with you and I was
Alone
Alone in this house where you tried to kill yourself
I poked my head in your room, disheveled now more than usual
The apparatus with which you tried to
“Do the deed” was on the kitchen table
Without much thought, I brought it to the
Basement and hid it in a corner
I went through such practical motions,
Maternal almost:
Straighten your bed
Close the window
Shut off the lights
Dispose of the food you left out on the nightstand
And then? I will go to work
I will come home
And I will try not to think about the sounds you made
When you were trying not to live