Embracing You

I embrace your absence
like I embraced you

For this absence is not empty
though it has
no flesh and bones
but it’s as full
as the shine in my eyes
and all the dreams
they could ever hold

This absence is not void
though you can’t see
or feel it by touch
but it’s as wide
as every bit of memory
my mind would ever preserve
as deep
as my lungs can hold a breath
and as long
as my body can bear a pain

This absence is you
and you are in this absence
both one and the same thing
and when I would learn
to embrace this absence forever
that’s when a longing too
would come to an end

– Chhaya