sometimes
it is good to close your eyes

and think about the people
who are no longer here
the ones we know are not coming back
at least not in the way we once held them

when i do
there is this quiet warmth
like sunlight through closed curtains

it feels like they are still around
watching over me
standing somewhere just beyond what i can see
protecting
guiding
knowing

knowing how much i love them
knowing how deeply i still miss them

grief is strange like that
it hurts
but it also glows

even though i cannot see them anymore
even though i cannot hear their voice
or feel their hands

they live somewhere steady inside me

every memory
every laugh
every lesson
every small ordinary moment

kept safe
within the love that never left

missing someone does not mean they are gone
it means they mattered
it means they still matter

and sometimes
closing my eyes
is enough to feel them again