absence - a poem

how can it be
that the ghost of your presence
is brighter than
all the stars?

-*-

Happy weekend everyone!

This poem is very straight-forward. It is simply about the feeling of missing someone that seems irreplaceable, whose presence (or lack of it in your life) distracts you from the things around you.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure if this is a happy poem or a sad one. Is it happy because someone is so beloved that they seem brighter than the stars to you? Or is it sad because that person is not there in that moment and it is distracting?

Most of my poems are organized into characters. I write short stories and I have a whole cast of characters with adventures of their own. So sometimes I organize my poems into chapters that relate to those characters. This poem relates to a character named "Miette". Actually the last several poems have been related to her...

Miette is a character who deeply loves her life. She loves the place she lives and engages in life fully. But at night time, she feels the absence of something incredibly familiar. Someone that she's sure she must know, but for some reason can't recall any details of. She thinks it's strange because she is not unhappy. In fact, she feels very happy. She has many friends, several lovers, and is a very talented artist whose work is celebrated. She lives in a strange, but magical world that delights her. But there is just... a ghost. A golden specter at the edge of her vision that pulls at her, speaking to her of something beyond the worldly success she's achieving.

Maybe she's known this person before in a past life, maybe not. But the idea of it urges her forward, reminding her that there is greater happiness and mystery beyond the life she's living now. She might have to get very uncomfortable to find it though...

I hope to share a short story involving Miette with you very soon, but until then I hope you're having a lovely evening!

xo
Ciel