"What seems to be is not always --"

 What seems to be is not always --

    Light years, the distance

    Between ‘is’ and ‘seem,’ 

            It seems.

    To sleep, to dream 

    Is my reward

            For days 

    Spent in work and sun.

    With you, then, ‘is’

            Was everything.

    Now you are gone.

    But to friends

            I seem okay.

    P.J. Grath, 6/28/2023