Gone from the answering machine

I listened to the answering machine
message so many times
Just to hear your voice again
A single phrase repeated in my mind
Living in my soul
And then it was deleted, and so were you
Memories of baseball games and late night barbecues
Fade from vivid colors to charcoal gray
I now see your name printed on marble at a lonely cemetery
And your face delights, yet haunts, my dreams.

— Megan Pielmeier