a poem designed to touch the heart and remind us all of the fragility of life |
Age 6 She twirls around in her house Her mahogany colored hair is spilling out behind her Her cheeks are flushed with exertion A grin spreads across her face She is beautiful Age 13 She stares at herself in the mirror A look of confusion and longing crosses her face A wistful sigh escapes her lips Taking down the boy’s picture She tosses it in the garbage A gleam of pride twinkles in her eye She then sits down and cries She is beautiful Age 17 She takes the document A gleaming smile gracing her lips She drives to the cemetery She wishes her parents could have seen today She touches the scar on her arm The only reminder of their existence A look of distress crumples her body She looks at her hands as if to say why me The rain falls She looks at the heavens with pleading eyes She is beautiful Age 23 The people surround her The lights change from red to blue to green Her so-called friends had abandoned her She looks around for help But no one listens The music booms too loud in her ears All of the drinks make her world spin and swirl into a kaleidoscope of shapes and sounds She has just enough time to escape the swarm of closely compacted bodies She falls on the white tile She loses consciousness Her hair is hiding her face Her body is bent in an awkward angle She is beautiful Age 25 She enters the door confidently She addresses her colleagues professionally They don’t see the sorrowful set of her eyes They don’t see how the smile is forced They can’t detect any insincerity in her laugh I can. They don’t notice how she barely eats How she’s too thin I do. But they do notice when the hospital calls She was in a horrible accident She may never wake up They don’t think they will ever have a tear come to their eye I will. Age 28 She lies in the hospital bed Three years being fed off an IV Her eye lids flutter The nurse calls in a doctor She fully awakens She looks around in confusion She asks where she is They confirm she still has her memory I sigh in relief. It is nothing but a breath Yet she hears it The company in her room leaves She stares at the window where I am I cower into the brush She gets up with surprising balance She unhooks the needles She comes to me She asks who I am ‘Eli’ I say She asks why I am here ‘I do not know’ is my answer She asks how long I have been watching her ‘Since I was six years old’ I squirm She looks at me with a bright smile I am surprised She asks if I will stay I smile gratefully Her silver eyes sparkle Her red lips lean in They press themselves against mine She is beautiful Age 32 She walks down the aisle Her silk dress flowing around her Tears trickle down her pink cheek But they are from happiness She stands across from me We say are vows Our lips meet It ends all too quickly She says she loves me She is beautiful Age 35 She looks down at our child A little baby girl She has her mother’s silver eyes She has my black curls Her cheeks are flushed She stares at me with a bewildered look Her mother laughs a tinkling laugh Her face glowing And I know They are beautiful Age 58 I lean over her casket Her face is peaceful My heart is ripped apart I’m all but dead inside Destiny clutches my side Crying for the loss of her mother I wrap my arms around her But I can’t look into her eyes I look over my wife And I realize she is no longer in pain Her hair is still mahogany Her skin still golden, though paled with death I can still smell her perfume I am brought back to another world One of childish dancing and teenage insecurities One of first encounters and beautiful dreams I am brought into a whole other world I grab a piece of paper and start writing When I am finished I notice one reoccurring thought She is beautiful… |