When I close his eyes
he sees the things that he pretended.
When he closes his eyes
he sees the things he knows too well.
He said that it took three times to get it right
and the love of his life died.
Aching bones carry a weight
they never should have known.
He falls apart.
The stuttering of a groaning heart.
When he closes his eyes
he sees those things he knows to well
and that grief is a full time job you learn to live with.
His radio plays songs while he sleeps
a chance to fill emptiness with something.
Relief might [bad word] 
it might not cure loneliness
but it gives him a time to forget.