strange how we put away all our closeness

one day and became strangers

brushing friendship off shoulders like dust

we carefully moved you and your things

out

after that we’d only nod our heads in passing

part of you is still mine it

begs you to come back

you left too soon you missed

the melancholy of the gas man

turning off the gas

the empty apartment

echoed and looked like quite a different place

it rattled like a pool hall

drab and empty

like an ad for floor wax

“before” but not “after”

it would’ve made you glad to leave

by Cher Bibler