Gone (Revision)

[Todd]

Hi Richard, thank you for the comments.

Hey Todd,
I quite like a lot of images here. I do have some thoughts though:

She leaves home so often;
you stop noticing. Until the day, -I love the enjambment of "you stop noticing." It actually stopped me cold in my reading and made me think about things.
she doesn’t come back. -Again, nice enjambment. The first four lines set things up nicely.
Light retreats to shadow,
You pull back the curtain -Is "You" capitalized intentionally?--no, that was just me forgetting basic punctuation. . It'll be fixed in the next revision.
to peer down the tunnel -I don't know if I'm sold on the use of "tunnel" here. It carries some symbolic significance to it, but I feel like it needs to be expanded on more.--I'll give this some thought 
between streetlights, listen
to the hungry night, then turn back -I like the image of "hungry night" because it ate the "she" from the beginning of the poem.--cool I'm glad the intent came across. 
to your husband over dinner and push -I found this image a bit confusing because I thought the "you" in the poem was the husband. I could be missing something. It wouldn't be the first time.--I'll look at the use of you. Pronouns tend to get me in trouble. I'll see if I can smooth out any misunderstandings. 
food around your plate. 
The hours drag the rivers, -This line is great. You take a common phrase about time dragging and turn it on its ear. My only suggestion here would be to change your spacing and start a new stanza here. I say this because this image deserves a little more emphasis.--That's a good thought. I may even consider a double stanza break to even introduce more white space, but at the very least setting it off more might be a good choice. 
waiting for a call, or a note,
like in the movies, but there’s no bargaining
except with God. She’s vanished
in a perverse magic trick,
into a disappearing box, 
out of your life,
and the magician -This whole sequence starting with "The hours" and going to "heart attack" is well done. My only suggestion is to not change any of it. 
has had a heart attack. -Personally, I think this image of the magician's heart attack is so strong that you should end on it. The next two lines aren't bad, but this makes for a stronger ending.--I will give this and your next statements full consideration. Heart attack may indeed be the best ending point. 
No words exist -Maybe use a precise word like "abracadabra," so the line might read "No 'abracadabra' exists".
to make her reappear. -I wonder if you would consider putting these lines somewhere else in the poem, so to set up the magician image? Maybe after the third line? Just a thought.

I think you have a lot of strong images in this poem, and I look forward to seeing where you take it from here.

Thanks for the read,
Richard

Thank you, Richard. 

Best,

Todd