have you done
this before? his
question was innocent
his eyes unyielding
mask off this pain
is all consuming.
I mean are you
familiar with what to do?
have you done ‘this’
before? my head swims with
21 years worth of sorrows
names no longer matching the
right faces, circumstances now
skewed. was it domestic
violence or a fatal car accident?
did she hang herself or was it
an attack? I walk up these
porch steps, my heart in
my hand (my only offering),
realizing these are the same
porch steps, this is the same
chicken dinner, these are the
same faces that greeted me that
first time. so my heart sink
another meter and I am undone
in this place, at this time, which
is so indistinguishable from
the time before or the time
before or the time before. but
this time, I am not crying.
instead I am resolute.

This.
Is.
The.
Last.
Time.
I.
Walk.
This.
Mile.