These two poems are pieces that I just recently finished. I'm not really sure where the inspiration for the first one came from. "Death is Not a Game", is pretty self explanatory. I was probably watching some sort of sporting event while also thinking about death. And it just clicked. The second poem, "The Hardest Thing", is one that I actually started last year after my step-dad passed away. I couldn't pull myself to complete it until this last week. It is definitely the hardest thing to watch a close, loved one die. That is why I felt the need to express it through poetry.
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Death is Not a
Game
Death is all but
leisurely sport
From moment you
arrive into world
That day of birth is
not your draft
Adolescence not
pre-season
Practice required in
daily grind
Can’t win with
meaningless motion
Blood, sweat, tears
and pain
Victory is only
survival
Death is not a game
It’s not a countdown
To dead lined attack
No play clock
No game clock
You can’t stop time
Or go back in time
There is no overtime
There are no
guarantees
Death is not a game
One wrong move
Career more than over
A costly mistake
Only one fan to judge
you
Step out of bounds
Eternally banished
Catastrophic injury
No back up plan
Death is not a game
Drop the pass
Cut from more than
team
Miss the shot
Condemned to unknown
Fall face first in
dirt
Covered by ground
Trip upon frozen ice
Body grows numb
Death is not a game
There are no
mulligans
Or do-over-replays
Or second chances
Fate won’t allow such
If you’re lucky
But luck runs out
Always runs dry
And you die
Death is not a game
Be that reckless
athlete not
Who takes opportunity
for granted
You never know when
your buzzer will sound
When your stadium
lights will dim
When your legacy
abruptly ends
When you retire into
the bliss
When the fat lady
sings for you
Come to think of it
It’s really life
that’s not a game
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The Hardest Thing
Get the news
Not good
Six to live
Probably less
Denial not healthy
But for the best
Accepting not
acceptable
Strength isn’t strong
Energy drained
Time running out
Weeks numbered
By painful days
Fear in eyes
Follows regret
Deterioration sinks
in
Drives it home
Reality check
Not a dream
A nightmare
With catastrophic
effect
Minutes run down
By seconds of agony
Helplessness
Written on face
Keep spirits high
Fail miserably
All parties
Silently saying
goodbye
Can’t speak, a voice
so weak
Can’t eat, a
nauseating defeat
Can’t laugh, a
coughing attack
Can’t sleep, a
peaceful dream
Can’t work, can’t
play
Can’t hope, can’t
pray
Can’t run, can’t
stray
Can’t breathe, can’t
stay
Only one thing left
Give in
It’s the hardest
thing
To watch a loved one
die
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"Accepting not acceptable, strength not strong" my favorite lines because they're so relevant to the human pain. I also appreciate how raw you were in this piece, it was heart breaking to read what you experienced like his fear and his regret. I'm a fan
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I had never directly experienced anything like that before. There were so many different emotions during that time it was hard to even write them down. Which is usually the easiest way for me to express my feelings! After a year, I was finally able to do it. Thanks again for taking an interest in my writing!
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