Keep Them

 

They should be here with me,

In all of they glory,

Laughing like they used to,

Dreaming like we once did,

Before the world started taking pieces of the people I love most.

Illness took some,

Accidents stole others,

And some just drifted,

Swallowed by pain that had no name.

Each goodbye carved its initials

Into the walls of my chest.

My heart feels numb,

But my eyes still weep in silence,

A quiet ache hiding behind every smile.

The tears sit heavy,

Held back by that forever knowing,

That they're never coming back.

I walk with ghosts made of memory,

Of laughter and loss,

Of stories cut short.

And still, I whisper to the sky:

Please, universe,

Keep them.

Hold them close in your light.

Let them rest easy.

And if you can,

Let them visit me in dreams,

Just long enough

To remind me I'm not alone.