What I Didn’t Know

Heavy laughter
coats grief’s hanger.
Anger, the empty chair.
Pain, the last glare.
Summersault smirk,
berserk.
You were shrinking,
not growing,
handsome lad–
I had no idea
you were lonely.

Steel mill dollhouse,
paper walls,
craggy mountains,
accidental falls.
Curtain of shame
divides us two,
didn’t know I
needed you.
Septic inside–
Lonely, and I left your
bedside.

Teenage father,
gothic drama,
pills for speeding,
in-the-closet succeeding,
no way to stop the bleeding.
Last time we swung
you said you might run,
had no idea your destination
was the tip of a gun–
If I’d known lonely loves fear,
I wouldn’t a’ let you leave
first gear.

All lessons learned
like tales from a sci-fi,
Hope you each gotta reboot,
‘cause I forgot my past lives;
this loneliness is hindsight.