The Evening I Nearly Forgot You

I turned off the light and listened to the dogs
downstairs, their chorus of yowls.

I was getting used to being alone, reacquainting
myself with the sounds the house makes

when you're not here. The furnace kicks on, angry.
The neighbor's heavy footsteps on the other side

of a too-thin wall. I wanted these sounds
for company. I wanted my loneliness

to fill me entirely, make me
another woman, someone you couldn't love

not even if you tried.