Still Life With Melancholy

When you have loved
your silence, long

and desperate
in its knowing, you can

present yourself
to mourning like a gift.

When you have loved
your mourning, you can

return to the place
of your loss, entering

what is not there
like a thrown-open door.

What is not there?
In a painting on the wall

that hangs in your heart,
a single orange

is missing f…