Not Alone

 by Cheryl Merrick

Silence hangs over my home

like a crushing weight

pressing in upon me.

Fighting the quiet,

I try to fill it with my words

as I remember all our

pleasant conversations,

but my speech only echos 

off the hard stillness. 

There is an emptiness

that can be felt

which intensifies

as the evening falls.

In the darkness,

I now startle at "strange" sounds.

Reprimanding my imagination,

I long for the comfort and security

your presence once gave me.

In these moments,

I struggle to remind myself 

that our covenants bind me, 

not only to you,

but to God 

for all eternity. 

Though you have stepped 

first through the veil,

I am not alone

for the Lord is with me each moment,

sustaining me,

and giving me the strength

to continue on.