The Poetry Marathon

The last time I saw you
You wore green
and a sad smile
maybe you knew this was goodbye
I wish you had told me
what you knew was to come
Maybe I would have remembered
to give you the note
that might save you on some nights

I don’t know where you are today
Friend, if we meet again, could you stay?
Tell me goodbye when the clock strikes twelve
Hold my hand for a while, is that okay?

This flower is red
Like my memory of you
So fragile and fierce
Mended by clotted blood
Easily crushed by bullets
In the pages of the newspaper.

The bravest thing I will ever do
Is to stay home and love you.

1. A little sunshine
2. Five borrowed thunderstorms
3. Sad violin music the neighbour used to play
4. A heart, preferably drooping
5. A tiny scream

There are no right proportions, it all goes in
You’ll know its ready when your eyes start pouring.

It’s not a pretty sound
It never was
It sounded like wheels grating
Stony, gravelly
It made you itch
A wound you couldn’t reach
Gave you no peace
Slowly, silently
I fell asleep