Akin to Longing....

There is a sense of absence
Haunting me tonight
Like the woods in autumn
After birds have taken flight
When the last few leaves have fallen
To a thick and rustling bed
And there’s a sense of emptiness
As leaves no longer thread
The dark and barren tree-tops
Exposing every limb and form
Unclothed; they seem to shiver
In the wake of winter’s storm
As a sudden sense of absence
Sweeps from sky to depths within
It parallels with longing
For a time that once had been

Janet~