The Ash Tray

I missed you quietly today. So quietly that no one noticed.

I missed you as I climbed out of bed and as I brushed my teeth; when I waited at the lights on the drive into work and as I heard the rain outside my window.

I missed you as I ordered lunch and as I kicked off my shoes when I got home; as I switched off the lights and climbed into bed for the night.

I missed you without tears or noise or fanfare.
But oh how I felt it.

I felt it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and at night. I felt it as I woke, as I waited, as I worked. I felt it at home, on the road, in the light, in the dark, in the rain.

I felt it in every one of those moments, each one sitting heavier and heavier as the weight of me missing you kept growing and growing.

Yes, I missed you so quietly today.

But I felt it so loudly.

***

Becky Hemsley Poetry 2024

Is it a sacrifice to leave, or is it a sacrifice to stay?

Does she need you because she loves you? Or does she love you because she needs you?

Everything is temporary.

And somehow they normalized profiting off of sick people.

I've come to realize not all of us are meant to lead happy lives.

Without hurting anyone, sometimes I just want it to be over.

It takes a special kind of woman to love a man that makes less money than her.

Some days, happiness just runs faster than me.

No, you don't always need to tell your side of the story.

Time will.