Your absence has taken root . . .

Your absence has taken root

in my body, as an apple tree

might, or a dry creek bed

waiting for rain. Certainly

this rooting is a growing

thing, not a stone, perennial,

without a name in the books

you’ve read to me. I don’t

mind it so much anymore.

Moonlight in your fur, paws

furiously burying bones,

the mysterious sounds

you would make in the dark,

the weight of you moving

rafter to rafter. Look closer.

Ben Clark grew up in rural Nebraska and now lives in Chicago, where he writes and works as an editor for Muzzle Magazine. His first book, Reasons To Leave The Slaughter, was released by Write Bloody Publishing in 2011. In 2015, his second collection, if you turn around I will turn around , was published by Thoughtcrime Press. This poem was written during a residency at the wonderful Art Farm Nebraska. For more information and links to his work: benclarkpoetry.com and thoughtcrimepress.com