The Moon Moves Around 1.49 Inches Away from the Earth Each Year

"The true shape of love... is absence."
                    ~ Sean Thomas Dougherty


I carry it in my arms all day, every
day. This is how I know it's more 

than its absence. Pre-emptive can mean 
that before the clock strikes the hour, 

I've lit all the lamps against darkness.  I eat
early and drink glass after glass of water 

before midnight; after, I take nothing by mouth 
for a test in the morning. It feels like there's 

a hollow in my gut. There, only the thrashing 
of branches like whips in the wind. But I keep 

returning: how can I believe silence 
only means refusal, only means a turning 

away? Remember me as more than 
a moon that drifted from your orbit.