TRAGIC Poem: Loving You Felt Like, by Leah Mockridge

Drinking carnival lemonade on a hot summer day
Walking miles through the desert in search of water that isn’t there
Falling asleep in the car as a kid on a long drive home
Pushing a boulder up an endless hill like the sister of Sisyphus
Getting a letter in the mail from a long lost friend
Disarming an atomic bomb with a blindfold on
Letting crisp night air flow into an open bedroom window
Realizing you left a candle burning all night by accident
Sharing an umbrella and feeling the soft rain on your shoulder
Fighting a losing battle in a war you don’t understand
Driving back home after a weekend spent away
Biting the cracked skin of your lip until it bleeds
Stroking the soft ears of a dog that doesn’t like anyone
Trying to find your keys when you’re already running late
Hearing the song your dad used to sing on the radio
Forcing a feral cat to sit quietly in your lap
Tasting the homemade brownie batter on the mixing spoon
Waking up crying from a dream you don’t remember at all
Stretching your restless legs after hours spent on a plane
Grabbing hopelessly at your loose paperwork as it’s swept by the wind
Seeing your favorite movie for the first time in a small hometown theater
Running into a stranger you used to love in a grocery store
Finding an old love note hidden in your favorite book
Leaving your childhood home when you move to college

Taking that first deep breath after diving underwater

Pressing a loaded gun to your head in a game of roulette

Allowing familiar hands to wrap around your neck

Hoping, against all odds, that they won’t squeeze