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A Friend Died Today

Writer's picture: Clifton DavidClifton David

A friend of mine died today,

A while ago--I'm not sure.

I took pleasure in burying him,

My own hands picking up mud, covering.


Yet. I shed no tears;

For I do not feel I can cry.

I laughed plenty--oh merriment.

Though still my heart was laden.


A friend of mine keeps dying,

Sometime now--I'm sure.

I cannot even bury him,

For my own hands constrain me.


I cry aloud--tormented,

I do not even wonder if I can stop.

My joy is gone--oh how melancholic.

My mind has no time to comprehend.


A spot of mine remains vacant,

Surrounded by chasms...or the background,

I shift and turn-enveloped by caricatures,

Their seemingly pallid expression...in flux.


My friend came back,

I must run away.

For he changes my perception,

All I see is decay.


I must sit to ponder,

Why am I put asunder?

Consciousness fragmented,

Each part depleted.


Chess pieces arrayed,

Decisions to be made,

Infinite possibilities: information,

Overwhelming...debilitating.


Qc5...a blunder,

Just how can I possibly recover?

Perhaps I do not and move forward...

Or look back and calculate...reinforce and charge.......--->


Oh, my friend brought another,

and another...and another. OKAY STOP!


A warrior can go on for so long,

Encircled he loses morale.

Mental fatigue weighs in,

Then the physical exhausts, overpowers.


A wishing to retire from life...

A final bow, a "thank you" for playing this game.

Flowers given; a crown adorned...!no!...a wreath instead.

Were we willed to life? Or we willed for living?


There remains no escape,

For my friend has returned...he always does.

Therefore, I shall stand no more...

For I see him as a threat.


He is my friend for he belongs to me,

Yet I must continually purge him...

Fight him like an enemy,

Alas we remain in a contested battleground.


I see

An Eternal strife, for as long as I live.





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