Shapes

I miss you not like oxygen or water
(I will not die if you're removed from me)
But like an otter needs another otter
Floating hand in hand across the sea;
Like riverbends need banks to keep their course
Shaping each other over centuries;
Like Scottish oaks bent by an unseen force
Along a cliff swept by a constant breeze.
I miss you in a dark eternal way
That lingers underneath the skin, and itches;
Like stages miss the presence of a play
Or cut quilt cloth the immanence of stitches:
I don't know how to do this without you.
It's fortunate I'm not required to.