Two Down. NaPoWriMo Challenge

"The most timid soul is made bold by necessity"
Chinese Proverb

mom


it's 11:19
paper wads lie crumbled
scattered across the floor
among them
words
bend
stretch
curl and tear into one another

squeeze any one of them hard
and watch them bleed

that’s the magic you gave me
this unexpurgated gift
exchanged when you said good-bye
created the day when childhood died
silent in youth
you took me far away
my guardian, love of my life

you needed me

to know how an infectious
suicide would be
how to clean your wrist
without causing it to bleed
your sloppy note and
the leftover information
your orphans would need

the dirty rags tied loose
around your wrists
blood splattered
across the walls
the bathroom floor
the kitchen knife
a red wet and warm reminder
that you did have a heart

with a second chance
you accepted life
without words and dry with fear
I took your death
cleaned up your blood
washed the walls
scrubbed the floor
and hid the knife
that severed us both,
in a place I'll never forget

Copyright © 2008 by Crystal Kill