The Architecture of Absence

A hallway watched from a doorway at five years old
A packed suitcase and a midnight story untold
You picked me up while the tears rolled down your face
And promised me nothing would ever take your place

The next morning we drove far away to the west
Leaving behind the only home that we possessed
But the silence grew long and the winters turned cold
As a ten year stretch of empty stories unfolded

A decade of silence left a vast empty space
With no letters or phone calls to trace your missing face
I spent years wondering why you walked away from the door
And if the child you left behind was worth fighting for

I prayed for a rescue or a kinder hand to appear
While a shadow filled the space where you should have been near
I look for your face in the fragments I try to keep
Like a name whispered low right before I fall asleep

The blueprint is broken and the memory is rare
Leaving only the echo of a mother not there
But I am learning to build a new house on this ground
Where the love that I deserve can finally be found