GRIEF Poem: Last Lines, by Cedar Clark

tell myself,
that today will be different
that the memory chains
will finally loosen

their grip.

I tell myself,
I will step forward
into the world,
leaving the past
behind.

As the sun rises
shadows lengthen

stretching long
across my thoughts,

binding me.

To the echoes
of your voice
and the ghost
of your touch.

Each step I take
heavy with weight.

My heart beats
a rhythm of regret,
a constant reminder

of the love
that lingered too long
that settled deep
into my bones.

I see your face
in strangers

I hear your thoughts
in whispers

I taste your smile
in the wind

and my mind wanders
down paths
we walked together,

retracing steps
that lead to nowhere

friends never see,
the scars

beneath the surface,

the marks
left by your departure

etched deep

into the fabric
of my being.

I try to fill
the void

with new experiences
new faces
new dreams

but each one falls
short.

A pale imitation
of life once imagined
a reminder of the gap

that cannot
be bridged.

Nights are the hardest
when silence falls
and darkness creeps in

I try so hard to forget
lying awake
tangled in sheets

that once held us both
wishing for sleep
that never comes.

I write letters,

to you.

That I’ll never send,
pouring out the words

I never had the courage,
to say,
to show,
to speak.

But as the ink dries,
the paper remains,
a story unfinished,
a chapter that refuses
to close.

I am caught
in the in-between

a place,
where the past
and present

collide