There is baseboard heat in my house. Its just coming on. I'm hearing it tic as the water begins to flow through the pipes. I'm also listening to my husband snore...my dog snore louder in the parlour and my son snore louder still from his room across the way...

I'm also hearing people that aren't with me anymore...Today someone in pain got me to thinking of them. Their sounds, their smells, their hands and voices. They aren't with me but something of them is...some intangible thing that makes them more here than a physical touch. 

I wonder if I am with them wherever they've gone...do they carry the memories of me with them...the shadows of my face or the sound of my bare feet on the floor or my sniffling now as I sit stricken in a place where they no longer are.

Bits of a whole