Stages II

When you died
I clung to all the material things
that had surrounded you
possessions and fabrics...
sweaters and pillows
Your too-small jacket clutched close
for comfort against the bitter cold
and hurt of your absence
all these things that carried the only thing
that remained on this earth of you
other than the frail human memories---
your brief escaping scent
I tried so hard to save
and breath in closer and deeper
holding it, clinging to it
trying to hold you so close
until I thought my heart would burst
You were ripped so quickly from me
and now years later the tear in my life
still burns under the salted tears
that seem to have no end
the faded scent now gone
my frail human memory will never
fill the gaping painful empty space
that is all that remains