Absence

Familiar hands
Refuge in aches
Out-patient luxury
Empathy sustained
In filthy gauze
Eaten up by corrections
That become sore
In sleep paralysis
Preparing to visit
People you miss
Forgot your lithium
No wind for your kite
Enough time for a fit
Saying, "This is it"
Eating your cabinet
Medicinal assistance
No bodily resistance
Death in an ambulance

Stranger has your hand
Euphoria rewards the plan
You're seeing white
A chemical reaction
It isn't light
You're going to purge
As concience and body
Cease to merge
You've cashed in
You've cashed in

This is progress
Now if only
We'd follow
Your lead
To never feel
Again

Richer during holidays
They're rich on your birthday
Slept through your wake
But dressed for the funeral
You were special to strangers
Their sympathy card
Exclusive to providers
Kept company
Wounds kissed
That weren't your influence
These people become significance
On a binge of drinking
Dreaming that you shared something
The first to show empathy
Will get a beautiful ring
They're brought together
By your departure
And excuse bahavior
While swearing they'd attempted
To be your savior

Were you not loved enough?
Had you not been loved?
Abandoned in moderation
Ocean curious without air
Risk depths of care
Nursed 'til bare
Nude in positivity
Vulnerable in light
A disappearing act
Out of spite