NaPoWriMo - Day 8

 Day 8 -  read a few of the poems from Spoon River Anthology, and then write your own poem in the form of a monologue delivered by someone who is dead.

This was a tough one and it was even sadder how quickly the poem almost wrote itself. Last week I found out a former student of mine had died of a drug overdose. He had pulled himself out of addiction and had finally gotten his life on track, but it was too much for him to take.

So Close

I tried so hard
The beasts sought me out
time after time after time

We battled them together
Sometimes you took point
other times
I held you up with one arm
desperately fending them off with the other
As hard as we fought
they were too powerful
their draw too alluring

You lost
and I was lost without you

In emptiness
I persevered
I got clean
knowing you would have been proud

But it wasn’t enough
Although I won
the demons were always there
mocking me
taunting me

And I missed you so much…

The victory was shallow
undeserved
and scary as hell
I needed your strength

So I came home

-Lisa