Gone
In the wake of those stricken by suicide. If this raises concerns for you, or for one whom you love, seek assistance now. Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/ ; USA http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ ; Canada http://suicideprevention.ca/thinking-about-suicide/find-a-crisis-centre/ . Or check where you live.
(i)
Gone.
You were.
Now
Not.
Gone.
No longer here.
The dance of dark and light,
Padding within,
Has come to
It’s zenith;
Or
To is plummet.
The darkness has cloaked you,
And the light
Has gone.
Except for a glimmer
That we grasp in memory,
Holding it in our hands,
Lest
It too
Is gone.
Were you freed
As you crossed
That final breach?
Or was it a sudden last jab
Or pain?
Then did you rise?
Like a raptor aloft,
Away from the soil of your sorrow?
Do you now feel pain?
Or a new one,
As you witness the wake,
The grief,
Of the remnant
Who mourn the loss,
your passing
From their midst?
In their lives now
You’ve left.
And left, yes,
A capacious hole,
Like the cold fissure
Of a crevasse,
Deep, sharp, biting and
Dark at its bottom.
As the pain left you
It alighted
On those who love you,
Who miss you.
The hurt is not gone,
Just transferred to others
Now needing,
Oh yes, needing much,
To do the healing
That needs to be done.
(ii)
May the dance of light
Leap over the shadows.
May its rays bring a new warmth
To the cold hurt.
And may those who remain
Catch the light
To illumine their pain.
And may that light,
Ever so bright and warm,
As it animates them,
Shine forth.
And may it beam so brightly
That it goes to you
And completes the cycle.
But,
This time,
Encircling your darkness in its ray,
That you may become
A star shining,
A beacon of peace,
And
The darkness
Gone.
Simon C.J. Falk 13 December 2015