Belinda, RIP

Belinda, RIP

It's not just finishing the race,
The real challenge is more refined:
By starting the Fracas in truth,
Bravery steps up to the line.

I remember days when my friend
Did not show up for work all week
And I knew where she was hiding:
Bear Creek, emotionally bleak

I knew she'd shouldered past agony
To put both feet on the ground,
Take her kids to school, & pretend
She was coming her beat to pound.

In rare moments she showed to me
The horror she held in her mind;
The play she'd act in such a way
To buy herself some little time.

Now she's gone, all her frets at end.
Still, I hear her pain-filled spirit as
Voice-mail answers - I can't erase
The message she gave as her last.

"'I'm sorry, no one can take your
Call right now' no one ever can,
For I laid me down and went to sleep
And never will wake again."

LMC 2 Jan 10