Empty Words

There are some who consider suicide,

You can see it in their eyes,

They forget the hurt of their loved ones

When they fail to say goodbyes,

They see no point in the gift of life,

Say it doesn’t work for them,

But we walk on by, and we let them die

By some careless theorem.

 

I noticed the girl in the local church

She was down upon her knees,

Her shoulders shaking with silent sobs

As she stared at the altarpiece,

Her eyes were glazed as she walked on by

It was then that I knew, for sure,

She’d be walking off to an awful fate

If she walked alone through the door.

 

I caught her up and I walked with her

And I said, ‘I know what you think,

But this will pass, it’s a half full glass,

What you have to do is drink.’

She turned a tear-stained eye to me

And she said, ‘But what would you know?

Your life is a bed of roses now,

But mine is a horror show!’

 

I tried to draw her out from herself

And she seemed to want to talk,

We wandered down to the Esplanade

And went for a long, slow walk,

Her parents, they were divorced, she said,

Her father had disappeared,

Her mother was mired in drugs and drink,

It was DNA she feared.

 

‘I don’t want to end like her,’ she said,

‘I don’t want to go like him,

My older brother just hanged himself,

I don’t want to go like Tim.

There’s pain and heartache each way I turn,

I shouldn’t be here at all,’

I put my arm round her shoulders then,

And leant on the old seawall.

 

‘The life you have is a gift from God,

You can’t just throw it away,

We all have the choice to soldier on

To a brighter, better day.’

I thought that my words had helped her then

When I left her, shaking her head,

That was at three in the afternoon,

By six o’clock, she was dead!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Avinash]

Suicide is not allowing life a chance to give it back to you what it has taken. I have seen several instances of this poem being enacted in real life. We are children of God and only god has right to take it away. Meanwhile those suffering unbearable pain must keep in mind that the pain itself is a gift in disguise to feel the endless love and strength of the creator.

[Draven]

Well, I thought it was gonna end a tad bit differently... Good story. I myself have had a time in which I was nearing the point of suicide. But I made with God's help.

[Tate Morgan]

A sad truth of many in this world. I myself find there is only so much sorrow a man can take upon himself And not being a sin eater i am not one to lavish others pain upon my own.It is sad to see but there comes a point when we have to let them be./

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

A most poignant and resembled piece, well done, great read.

[Ravyne Hawke]

People who have never considered suicide always think they can just talk a suicidal person down; they also think we are selfish. Until you've felt that desperation, you will never understand. Eventually, suicide will have it's way.

[Marie]

You can't stop people from following their own destinies, even if that means deth. I have known three suicides in my life, and two were teenagers. It seems a terrible waste--but I' not the one to decide.

[Tina Louise UK]

wow...wasn't expecting it to end like that, how very sad. This one hit really close to home, I have lost a few loved ones in this way. Incredibly moving x

[Lena M. P.]

What a very sad poem David. It made me cry because it hit to close to home. Well written though.

[Claire in VA]

Suicide is such a painful subject. It's especially
painful for those of us who have been deeply
hurt by it. Your writing is great. The subject is
difficult.

[Lyn Anderson]

This is so sad, and so true, and I know exactly what it feels like to try and prevent the unpreventable. Might I make one suggestion? The exclamation at the end, in my opinion, would be better of as a period.