{"id":102208,"date":"2021-06-27T08:24:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-27T12:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=102208"},"modified":"2021-06-27T08:24:31","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T12:24:31","slug":"on-life-and-everything-after-hour-23-an-i-am-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/on-life-and-everything-after-hour-23-an-i-am-poem\/","title":{"rendered":"On Life and Everything After (Hour 23, An “I Am” Poem)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am<\/span><\/strong> shrouded in the shadows.<\/p>\n

I wonder<\/span><\/strong> how long it’s been.<\/p>\n

I hear<\/span><\/strong> a familiar voice calling my name.<\/p>\n

I see<\/span><\/strong> your mother moving my way, arms outstretched in an embrace.<\/p>\n

I want<\/span> <\/strong>so much to ease her sorrow, soothe the pain that fills her face.<\/p>\n

I am<\/span><\/strong> lost for words, so I simply squeeze her tightly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I pretend<\/span> <\/strong>that I’m okay because I don’t deserve to grieve your loss.<\/p>\n

I feel<\/span> <\/strong>overcome with guilt and burdened by regret,<\/p>\n

I touch<\/span><\/strong> your picture in my pocket.<\/p>\n

I worry<\/strong><\/span> about Mikah living life without you.<\/p>\n

I cry<\/span><\/strong> until my body collapses to the floor; my eyes can weep no more.<\/p>\n

I am<\/span><\/strong> a failure as your forever friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I understand<\/span><\/strong> Life happens when we’re making other plans.<\/p>\n

I say<\/span><\/strong> it’s one of those things that’s beyond my control.<\/p>\n

I dream<\/span><\/strong> of one more chance to say our last goodbyes.<\/p>\n

I try<\/span><\/strong> to forgive myself.<\/p>\n

I hope<\/span><\/strong> that you’ve forgiven me as well.<\/p>\n

I am<\/span><\/strong> forever haunted, for I discovered in the end, I was the one who was the “flaky friend.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Loving Memory of Kimberly, my friend for over thirty years. May she finally rest in His peace.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(An “I Am” poem is composed of three stanzas of six lines apiece. The words highlighted in red above are given as the beginnings of every line, but where they lead is entirely up to the author.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I am shrouded in the shadows. I wonder how long it’s been. I hear a familiar voice calling my name. I see your mother moving my way, arms outstretched in an embrace. I want so much to ease her sorrow, soothe the pain that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1212,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102919,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102208\/revisions\/102919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}