She has gone now

Like Alice

Disappearing down the rabbit hole.

I wonder, will she ever come back?

 

I’m not sure she wants to

If she could find her voice

She might say

I am happy here, where I am

 

It seems hard to believe

Once, long ago

She was a joyous girl

Skipping and hopping

Her way through life

She was innocent

And free

 

Somewhere

Along the path

Her skip became a limp

The extrovert inverted

Squealing dissolved into a whimper

 

No more fight

The spark has gone

Her eyes are glazed

With honey

She peels her skin

As though pulling paint

From a weathered wall

 

More Valium is needed

Her cushion from the world

Anesthetic for the pain

Her golden hair

Veils her vacant face

She draws it like a curtain

To keep the darkness in

She doesn’t like the light

 

I’d like to take her in my arms

Hug her really tight

I’ll call her back to happy times

When we laughed and chatted

Through the night

 

But she is gone now

I know she is still in there

Somewhere deep inside

She has dived so deep

Nothing seems to reach her

My dear friend

Has given up

She says she has

No more energy

To fight.

 

C.K.22