We act as if we do not see
The empty chair unmoved,
Or spot the steaming cup of tea
Which everyday’s removed.

We act as if we do not mind
The silence in your wake,
Or note the absence left behind
Each time that lull we break.

We act as if we do not care
You’d rather be alone,
Or that it hurts that in your chair
There sits a ghost unknown.

Yes act is right and what a show,
Each day we must perform.
For when you left so long ago
A spirit took your form.

So now we sit with phantom guest
And mourn our future loss.
The pain you had left unaddressed
Has spread unchecked across 

The lives of us who held you dear
Who grieve what could have been –
And haunted by these wasted years
We play our parts unseen.