Could Have Been

A Poem by Ashes

One of the few exceptions where I use minimal punctuation. Another poems inspired at work.

You turn on your local news
To discover a boy commit suicide
The channel gets changed
A young life ended early
But no one you know

What if you're wrong
Or could have been wrong?

What if you found out
He went to your high school
Your church
Sat 3 rows behind you
Was the one leaving those post-its
The ones that made you smile

And you didn't even know his name

Say there was a crystal ball
Where you can see how lives could have been
And you discover
He was meant to be your lover
He'd have taken you to senior prom

One day give you a ring
One day ask "Be mine?"

Let's modify
You recognize his face on the screen
He went to your high school
Your church
Sat three rows back

He was your friend

You saw the marks on his skin
The obvious signs
But you watched him writhe
If he really needed you he'd reach out

Right?

His pain was not a cross you wanted to bare
Not unless you "had too"
So you turned a blind eye
He knew people cared
So he would "never leave"

Wrong

He needed you to reach out
Like he did for you when you were in pain
Too weak to stand or scream
He was looking for an out stretched hand
But one never came

Nobody was willing to try

You could have helped save him
Anyone could have
Even a stranger
His life had long been caught in the balance
It was OBVIOUS he was in danger

Now he's gone
Leaving you to wonder what could have been

© 2013 Ashes

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Reviews

Shannen Forrester

Powerful and emotional, brilliantly written. Only one issue
He was looking for an out stretched hand
Bun one never came
I'm guessing that was supposed to be but :) I wouldn't normally be so picky but by that point the poem has you drawn in and on an emotional journey so it really sticks out :)