Empty Bench / 空凳

My world had been here

On the bench

Crouching liked a fetus

Reticent in mundane serenity

Before the stormy clouds loomed

Then she left

In a hush of all ineffable words

She left to unleash the time

that manoeuvred the hull of life

and went astray

Got desperately lost

Entangled in the chaos of unseen consternation

Something not palpable

Intangible like smell

When days and nights turned hollow

Unspeakably hollow

As my world had long left the bench

For the emptiness

She regurgitated a pool of fragile warmth

A dim blip of survival

For me to hang on

Trudging through the unchartered winter snow

Everyone's world had been here

But she had long left

On the empty bench

Piling up the stories of

hope, despair, and destiny

（Napier, New Zealand）