It was both a gift and a curse that I was with her when she took her last breath.
I truly wanted to be there to comfort her in her last moments, but those empty dead eyes will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Tag: loss
Creature Comforts of Home
The night after his mother’s funeral, as Allen lay in the darkened bedroom heartbroken and feeling alone, a wisp of her perfume wafted by and a soft voice whispered, “Don’t cry baby boy for mother is here.”
Startled, he switched on the bedstand light, only to find his wild-eyed stepbrother, wearing lipstick and his mother’s favorite dress meeting Allen’s forehead with a wood axe.
Abandonment.
We vowed to give to each other all that we had.
I was left with nothing.
Love’s Labours Lost
There were times, when she would catch the faintest whiff of fresh air, that she could remember with startling clarity the nights spent out on the lake, riding around on the boat, Maura’s hand clasped in her own as they looked up at the stars from their pallets on deck.
But the lake was gone, along with the boat, Maura was as good as gone, with no idea what had been done to keep her safe, and the only memories she had to look forward to making now were how far they could torture her with hard labor and hard blows before she merely phased out of existence.
Journey’s End
He held her to him and sobbed. When she woke up she wouldn’t remember a thing, and it was all his fault.
Up
True love is putting someone else’s happiness above your own.
Wake up and see me.
Casualties
Attention is a click of heels, perfect creases, heads lifted, jaws set, and chests filled proudly with the hope of doing something good and right.
Four months later, heels click again, heads lift and jaws set as we wait for the gun salute in much shorter lines.
Supposing
I caressed the empty space in our bed, still warm where once you were and supposed that you were gone forever. Soon my pillow was soaked with tears, my body exhausted by wrenching sobs, and then I heard the toilet flush.
*
The Pawprint
I looked at the headstone where my dog now lay.
And said “The pawprint you left on my heart, will never fade away.”
Underwear Man
I bought a horse after she left me for the cowboy who tucked his shirt into his underwear. I hide my humiliation under holster and spurs.
Something was missing
Growing up, he always thought that he would never lose his innocence.
It was in those sleepless nights and those dark thoughts, that he realized that it was gone.