Have You Seen Them?

A tragic story in the form of poetry one of my first piece and one of my favorites.

I walked along a corridor,

The voices they echo inside my head,

I look into the note I hold,

And follow it to the door I’m told,

I walk into a padded room,

A place that existed no sun nor moon,

I looked around the room with care,

And in the corner I saw him there,

Curled up in a ball you see,

Wrapped up in his insanity,

H e slowly looked up at me,

And his eyes held so much tragedy,

He quickly grabbed at my leg,

And this first contact it filled me with dread,

He kept his gaze upon my face,

Searching for hope he asked pleadingly “HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?”

 

I tried my best to look away,

But my eyes refused to pull away,

My heart began to fill with pity,

But was determined to do my duty,

I sat down across from him,

Opened my notes to assess him,

“For me to help you as you may see,

I need you to tell me your whole story.”

He looked at me and breathed slow,

His disappointment he clearly showed,

He curled back up into a ball,

And leaned his back against the wall,

And as he began o speak,

His voice began to sound so weak,

“I had loved her since first we met,

Her soft touch I could never forget,

 When I was 17 I went to war,

And she promised she would wait for me,

3 years later I returned with joy,

And we got married later that day,

2 years later we had a beautiful girl,

She was the prettiest little thing you can’t compare,

She would have been 6 today,

 

Every night I lay in bed convincing myself this was no dream,

That if I was to go to sleep,

That I’d still wake to see my family,

I found myself smiling with the man as I scribbled on my pad,

He was so happy I thought,

What could have gone wrong?

 I waited patiently,

Because this story wasn’t done,

A tear rolled down his face as he kept looking at me,

And once again he pleaded, “HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?”

I remained quiet,

What would you say?

When there’s nothing left to say,

The room was quiet as he stared away,

You heard nothing in that room,

Only the shadows as they creep up behind you,

He continued on his talk,

“Where we lived was a peaceful place,

Friends helped friends and everyone laughed,

But all good places are not safe,

From the darkness that dwelled below,

There was a man named Lincon Joe the black sheep of our land,

He held a massive debt,

Owed to a dangerous gang,

And the gangsters came to collect,

Joe couldn’t pay enough to them,

 I remember his bloodied face,

As they slowly tortured him,

On the yard of his own place,

The first mistake I think I made,

Was going to his aid,

I managed to drive them back,

I made my second mistake then,

Thinking it would end,

 

I remember it like yesterday,

It was the day I was away,

I came home to see so much blood,

Seeping under the door,

I ran inside my heart racing,

Tears already there,

And in the middle of our beautiful house,

Lay 2 bodies bleeding out,

That is the last I saw,

Later waking up on the floor,

I got up…

I walked out…

And drove…

…They didn’t hide,

They welcomed me,

My spirit they had broke,

They boasted at what they did,

I cried…

This was a lesson they said to me,

To whip me back down in place,

To know where I should be,

 

I cried…

They stood over me and laughed even harder,

Then I cried no more…

They all fell one by one,

None of them tried to run,

Some, they pleaded for their lives,

Some claimed to have children and wives,

As blood flowed into their eyes,

Some of them even cried,

He put his hands out in front of me,

Stabs and gashes were clear to see,

He pulled aside his vest,

There was a bullet wound on his chest,

He killed 30 men that day,

Then went back home to make Joe pay,

They found him in an ally next day,

Covered in blood and totally insane,

He wouldn’t answer any questions asked,

But asked everyone else “HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?”

 

I walked back out that padded room,

I walked to my office,

I sat behind my big oak desk,

And as I leaned back on my executive seat,

A tear ran down my trembling cheek,

I dialed a number and placed it to my ear,

And on the other end a woman was there,

“Hello darling, how are you? I just called to say I LOVE YOU.”

Reviews

[Vidya Bacchus]

this is a very nice story/poem write on

[justjenn_2u]

I pray this is fiction but at same time I have seen this ugliness. You grow bittersweet. Your descriptive language turns this into not just a poem but a story. Write on.

[Chris Rampersad]

Thank you. It is fiction so don't worry.