Student Submission

I never got to say goodbye.

I didn’t know he was going to die.

He fought with fire,

But his flame expired.

Why, when joy appears,

Must it twist into tears?

But then—

crunch,

Smash—it broke my heart so fast.

My life’s a never-ending funeral.

I don't bother with friends anymore.

They come, they go—

They haunt me like ghosts.

Grief and I, together we remain.

Time seems slow, a constant strain.

Stage four is where I’m lain,

My anxiety consumes me,

makes me roar in pain.

Am I losing my mind?

Or am I just tired—too tired to try?

I waste away in bed for weeks,

My body crumbles, my spirit shrinks.

Shower? No. I ache, I cry,

Each hour like a heavy sigh.

I sleep.

And sleep.

And sleep.

Hoping the darkness will fade,

Dodging grief one more day.