the hole in my heart holds your shape.

the hunger of my arms

recalls the feast of your body~

now, there’s not a crumb of affection.

my lips fit only the puzzle of your brow,

the keyhole of your navel,

the glove of your mouth

and without these connections

have nothing to say.

silence inhabits the space vacated by your voice:

missed is not the quick laugh,

not the mindless humming~

those echo in my soul;

missed is the voice of the everyday room,

the words with coffee or lemonade or wine...

i am so dry without you!

where is my refreshment?

in the morning, i am a flag without wind.

in the evening, a meal without spice.

since you found a new road and compass,

my life has been full

of the absence of you.

~ Roy Anthony Shabla

the physics of life

is not a universal theory~

it is not relative to love.

there is a hidden mathematics

to affairs of the heart,

a metaphysical geometry

that cannot be proved

in the three-dimensional world.

when it comes to love,

there is no

“one plus one”

there is no

“one plus one plus one”

there is no

“two minus one”

there is no

“two plus one minus one”…

love is not simple math.

if it were,

we would each marry

our fourth-grade sweethearts

forever.

the hidden factors of love,

the secret geometry

for which there is no class,

remain the final mystery

of the universe

beyond the song and dance

of the stars

beyond the song and dance

of the atoms of ourselves~

these are flashes of light

in darkness

and easier to see

than a soulmate.

i have been a poor student

in this subject

or a great failure

depending on the perspective.

i can almost see

the invisible factors of love

but the blind students

still get better grades.