Stay a Little Longer

Stay a little longer,

though you wake in your nightmare's bed

and you pace the hall,

    without a body to toss and turn through the night.

Stay a little longer,

though the routines circle without time or place

and home is no longer home,

    but stasis

    sometimes fearful,

        sometimes empty.

Stay a little longer,

though the well runs dry of memories,

    and simple comforts seem foreign,

    and excitement leads to anxieties,

        and something's missing,

        and you can't have words to name it,

            but something's missing.