The house next door is empty now

My neighbour gone to the care of strangers

Her eyesight and her memory failing

She could no longer live alone.

There was no time to say goodbye

She left without a backward glance

On walking through the empty rooms

I felt an overwhelming sense of loss

Remembering days when we had shared

Our time and friendship over morning coffee

When confidences were given and returned.

She is much better now

In body, though not in mind.

Her household treasures, gathered in a lifetime

Are packed and stored away until-

Is this, at last, what happens to us all?