The Pang for Fading Presences

The scent of concrete
          too vague to hold inside
Like the Christmas mums along the rows
          of cubicles at night

Such fear it will escape
          a balloon that never ceases
Breathing 'til extinguished,
          and with it me.

                                       This slab on the other hand
          will say nothing in perpetuity
And pull emotions out
          like honey draws out flies

But your eyes seem to hold what I say
          forever, although they move
With expert caprice to the next
          forever moment
Clinging like bees to clover
          and whizzing away

Nothing wastes a second
         of its life
And all the colors gained
         turn golden decomposing

The mind simply thinks
         and the figurines reform
                                     yet its shapings
                       scrape out
          rhythms of confusion
Spread confetti'ed feeling on the floor
                             
                                 For what has passed
          maintains its glowing hold
                         The thing we tried to call real
Still lives
                     uncontainable
                                                    like a cameo in amber
          of the leaf that's left of the girl

What's lost was never known
          and what we know as grieving
                               -- our own --
Glares back at us
          conscious
                               but not close

The pointing at the moon is real
          but not the moon itself
Concealed
          to be found

For all the resonance spun forth
         like storms from arctic streams
The image can't be modified
         by even the all-seeing eye

They never move O restless one
         they never move