My absence

Hugging me from both sides

Forcing a smile and holding hands

My parents gave me my last tour of the house

And it struck me how

The house still felt the same

It hit me how little

My absence will be seen

When I slip through that door

Like I've never been here

My presence fades away

A sense of memory

No more they'll smile or laugh

When they think about me

My face accompanied

With deep melancholy

So joy will try to fill

The blanks I left until

No more my trace you'll find

In the home I once had

And without me they'll laugh

For real, while holding hands