Love Requires Sacrifice

Caught in the middle of a divorce, I know a lot of kids think it's their fault their parents don't love each other anymore. This poem is about a girl that thought that taking herself out of the picture, out of love for her parent's love, would bring them

 Parents are out.

Light the candles, make a night of it.

It's what you've been waiting for.

You lean back, porcelain bathtub-- 

in the house you grew up.

 

It slices like butter.

you've tied your hair back, don't want it to get wet.

Smile dreamily, lean back and close your eyes.

 

They'd expect you to be irresponsible,

while they're away.

You're living up to their expectations,

just as you'd thought they'd always want you to.

 

Slipping away, into another place,

a dream world, a place so much better than this.

The water goes a vibrant red,

you don't feel your life,

as it drains out your wrists.

 

You hope that when they come home,

they'll figure it out.

You didn't leave a note,

but you want them to know:

It wasn't their fault,

not the cause of a boy that left you,

the will to live is gone.

You've seen things,

heard things,

that had existed only in your nightmares.

You want them to stay together,

you know it's your fault,

that they're falling a part.

 

Too late to turn back,

but what you're doing is righteous.

Going,

going,

gone.

 

Please try to understand.

Reviews

[Mr. Misanthrope]

The word I would use to describe this fabulous poem is 'frightening'. At first, I thought she was just having a soothing bath, until the next few horrifying stanzas revealed that she had slit her wrists. The subtle manner in which you infuse something so sad into something so...silent, how the clear bathwater is swallowed up by red clouds, is what gives this piece an extremely unique effect.

Great work!

Luke

so beautiful and moving
bravo
-ST