Once Again

I go to work 

I meet coworkers 

I meet customers 

I wear my smile 

a shield 

I hear their words 

Ringing with sincerity 

Trying to console me 

Trying to understand 

And I keep my shield raised 

The day winds down 

The sounds of work 

Fade into the low, steady hum  

Of the road home 

Normality ends 

And I drive to what was our home 

Knowing once there 

I lose you all over again 

I have lost my anchor   

Now I drift 

In waters we once charted together 

Following paths only we knew 

The door closes behind me 

Your voice doesn't greet me 

The silence presses in 

I have lost my conversation partner 

And here 

In the weight of that quiet 

My shield 

slips from my hand 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

August 9, 2025