For the woman crying on her cell phone

Today is the day I realized I had lost a book of my poems
A book I have lived a decade beside
I sat outside on my front patio with a cigarette and a beer
and I thought about how much that black book had meant to me
How much love and hatred was scribed in its pages
How it grew with me and seeded itself into my world
I took in the sights of the people walking by
Chit chatting outside of the restaurant across the street
Turning their noses in the air at the sight of me
"That many beer in the afternoon."
They would never understand
the loss I was feeling for my black book.
Not longing for the metaphors or expressions it contained
Not longing for anything at all
The couple next door seemed happy
The birds chirped and sang pleasantly from the tree's
The squirrels hopped and danced through their branches
Chasing each other for food
and even the sun was calm and mellow
as I sat down
Cast in shade.
You never really quite understand how much something like that means to you
Until the day comes when you find out that it is gone forever
Into the ether
Into an unknown realm

There was a woman two doors down.
She was crying hysterically into her cell phone
Tears streaming down her face
I took a drag of my cigarette and watched intently
She knew how I was feeling
and eye contact was all we needed.