Took 4 long months to finish this one. Sometimes a poem is like a plane and it’s easy to leave passengers behind. Cathartic poems only make sense to the writer and I had to mould and remould this one many times till it was ready to take off.


Death of a Friendship

I
I’m tiptoeing
around someone
I should be hugging

Eggshells crack
and little chicks appear
signifying a new birth

But karma
and life cycles can’t explain
how I've hidden
under layers of pain

My skin is thick
and yet it cracks

My head hurts
from all my heart
has been dealing with

My eyes hurt,
the little muscles
that are typing this out
are hurting

And I'm ready to give up

I'm ready to say
I can make do
without you

I know this isn't true
How dependant of me
not to be able to let you go


II
The death of a friendship
looks a lot like a funeral
you aren't allowed to attend

There isn't an obituary
Or a physical body to bury
Or a place you could come
to lay down flowers every year
on the anniversary of
the long break-up text

There are tears
that have been shed
in silence
cos even the death of a pet
earns you bereavement leave
but not this

III
I'm allowed to hurt right?
To cry snotty tears
and hug my teddy bear
and pretend to be a lost kid for a minute

Can't I allow myself that freedom?
Can't you pat me on my back and say ‘there, there’?
Can't you pamper me with a free dinner?

Tomorrow I'll tie my hair in a bun
and get to digging

Tonight I will cry
kick up a fuss
and throw a bloody tantrum
cos you!
you’ve known me since I was a teenager
and you!
you've chosen not to grow old with me.




Poetry by Inspired
Read 174 times
Written on 2024-02-08 at 03:14

Tags Death  Grief  Friendship 

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Alan J Ripley The PoetBay support member heart!
An inspirational poem. That at some time or another,
Most of us have lived through this.
Regards Alan

Language: 4
Format: 4
Mood: 4
Overall: 4
2024-02-09


D G Moody The PoetBay support member heart!
'The death of a friendship looks a lot like a funeral you aren't allowed to attend'

It is this kind of reflection that can lift a poem beyond the mundane, and you've maintained the same throughout this poem. And I can also appreciate the length of time it took to get it right. Congratulations!

Language: 5
Format: 5
Mood: 5
Overall: 5
2024-02-09


ken d williams The PoetBay support member heart!
As like I have suffered in times past
The feeling something had died in an instant there & then!
Well written
Ken D.

Language: 5
Format: 5
Mood: 5
Overall: 4
2024-02-08


R.W.S. The PoetBay support member heart!
This is powerfully written. I can feel it as I read it. I’ll grab my teddy bear and join you. Really well done.

Overall: 5
2024-02-08