He's Still Here

By day, I am laughter, smiles, bless you’s.
Evening, I am where are you?, heart splintered,
drowned blue.
Night, I am a Joni Mitchell lyric, a forgotten painter,
a country station’s croon.
Morning, I put on my makeup, the thick smile lines,
the rouged joy.
They need me this way, unaffected and gladsome,
pretending he never left.