Time And Space

Absolute Zero


The void opened up
spilling restive gemstones of light
in front of me,
a checkerboard
of blue and red
telling me double stories
of which path to take.
I looked for the markers
you surely left behind
so I could follow,
but the stars put a finger
to their lips
and whispered in a hush
“Shh, we’ll never tell.”
Left, right, left, right,
I jumped from one blue giant
to another
searching for your perfume
or the distant echo
of your voice.
“Shh, we’ll never tell,”
the stars laughed behind my back
as I changed
to the reds,
yearning for your heat,
finding only the
absolute zero
of the void.
The lush, malevolent night
opened up to me
spilling singing gemstones,
their light a siren’s call
leading me away
from the mercies of
forgetting the feel
of the small of your back
and the look in your eyes
when I said your name.