what's gone

Zero's the opposite of grief
(unless you count the word),
stands proxy in the place
of nothing.

Grief's palms encircle faces,
presence: what's gone.
A half-empty perfume bottle,
voice the answering machine clicks on:

"I can't come
to the phone right now...."
Zero marks what isn't there.
Grief is what remains.

[Cullen Bailey Burns 'Plenty of Nothing', from Slip]