GRIEF Poem: Edified, by Rodney Rex

Call me weird, suspect, out-of-touch. Talk about how pathetic i must be when i send you unsolicited messages through social media. i don’t blame you. Ignore me, as you will. Tell your friends how desperate i must be. Warn people to stay away because talking to me is like feeding a stray dog. i’m not mad at you.

You’ve never walked in my shoes. And i’m glad for that.

Once, i saw a young lady, early twenties i would guess. She had a scar. The scar reached from ear to ear. Around her throat. She was on suicide watch. And i wondered, How bad can it be? How bad can it possibly get?

So i reach out, as only i know to. Reach out by the available means. Reach out to people more connected than any in history. Where access to each other is as close as buttons on a keyboard. But nobody is there.

So i think of the young lady and her scar. And i feel pain, because i wasn’t there.

Once, i saw a man, mid-thirties i would guess. He had no legs. He had no arms. He was placed on a motorized cart and left out in the desert heat, to beg for change. But he never spoke. Never opened his eyes. i walked by him daily, as did thousands of others. i never put change in his jar or spoke to him. Nobody did. He made us uncomfortable, so we looked away. We looked down or up or at anything but him.

So i think of this man. And i am sad, because i looked at everything but him. It’s okay to make fun of me. To laugh and warn others about my desperation. i don’t blame you and i’m not mad. But please don’t hurt the next person. They aren’t as strong. As stubborn. Don’t look down or up or anywhere but in their eyes. Sometimes, that’s all they need.

So i reach out to save my life. And that’s not your concern. Not that it matters, but i’ll be okay. i’ll be okay because of that young lady on suicide watch and that man in the desert. i’ll be okay because i want to give their suffering meaning. i reach out to save somebody else.

So i reach out because you are not alone. Because you should know that if i can be okay, you can too. Because whoever you are… i’m there. Because i’ll look at you and nothing else. I love You. And You are important.
And keep reaching out, no matter what they say about You.

The End