For a contest- a poem of healing and loss. Featured contest winner! |
I wasn't always a crier Back when I had more than just memories Of you. Now all I know of "us" is Who we could have been. Still, it's hard to cry every night away When it hurts a lot less to laugh. I cry a tear less a day, Attempt a broken smile; Black sorrow gently turns to gray. My eyes sting, but not from smoke this time I'll swear I'll not forget Your boyish face, Once lit by that soft and gentle smile. I'll not forget those promises we made By the light of a much calmer fire. I'll always remember the tickle of your breath in my ear, Your warm arm around my soul You were so good at holding me together; So when you were gone, I fell to pieces That needed you. You were college-bound, Our love was young Just a boy, but so much more Because when I closed my eyes, I just saw you, Honestly, love, I still do. But fires all eventually die, They sputter and lose their strength They cry dry black tears At the hint of the end, Which settle and are still; The only reminder a fire was there Is their black and sooty trail. And from those dark tears, Rises a new me More fragile and small But whole at least Because the living never stay broken. You would want me to be brave, To smile again, So I'll laugh, and maybe no one will see That I'm shaking beneath my wide smile. If I tremble, let me tremble bravely I'll do it for you And your green-star eyes; Your memory will help me mend. The only clue That you lived and we loved Are the ashes I cry From my memories. I promise it's better to have loved and lost Than to never have loved you at all. You taught me to love, How to be truly loved And for that, I believe, I am stronger. |