The End

It never used to hurt like this.
I never used to squint my eyes--
clenching them shut like this--
when I closed the cover of a book.

I just read the last poem in a Billy Collins collection--
my first of his,
of many,
to tell you the truth,
and it hurt.

It is like having a conversational relationship with someone
and then you shut them out of your life.
You weren't done talking to them.

It is like listening to your Grandmother's stories
and then she stops talking to reach for another task.
You weren't done listening to her.

There were such melodious hymns sung from those pages
and now I am filled with silence--
sharp, painful, stabbing silence.

I feel so empty,
so lonely,
so quiet.

It never used to hurt like this.