Bonnie White - Haunted

There is a hole where there was never supposed to be, 

not like a wound, but like a missing thread in the fabric of everything. 

You learn to walk around it, 

set your coffee down gently, 

water the plants, 

answer the phone without your voice breaking.

Some days you speak into the quiet

just to feel it answer back. 

Other days you carry it like a stone you've worn smooth with your hands.

Memories come soft and sudden, 

a flash of laughter, a half-heard song

and they ache as much as they comfort. 

It never leaves but you learn how to live beside it. 

From the Press:

White's poem turns loss into something familiar to us all. Rather than speaking of absence as a void, Haunted shows how grief becomes woven into the ordinary routines of living. Life moves on, we continue to wake up each day, we get ready for each day, and in these small daily moments, White is able to have readers find echoes of their own experience, how loss reshapes our daily rhythms but does not silence them.

What resonates most is the refusal to treat grief as a wound; instead, it becomes a presence, something meant to be carried, touched, and even softened by memory. White's lines remind us that while loss never fully departs, it can sit beside us as a companion.

About the Author:

Bonnie White is an aspiring poet with a passion for weaving words into emotion. Inspired by everyday moments, nature, and personal experiences, she explores themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. Bonnie enjoys experimenting with different poetic forms and sharing her work to connect with others. When not writing, she can be found in the kitchen or in the classroom, always seeking new inspiration.

Where to Find:

Instagram: @midnightmuse318